Sparks Fly
by TheEngineeringGames
Summary: Lauren Rocque has grown up in the spotlight but wants to make a name for herself. Once she moves in to the Palmwoods to start recording with her uncle, totally craziness and maybe even a little love happens when she meets the guys of Big Time Rush. Rewrite of I See Sparks Fly.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there! I recently got back into BTR like I was before and I started to reread some of my stories that I had written. I love _I See Sparks Fly_ since it's one of the first stories I ever wrote. But it's not my best writing because I was young and hadn't experienced a lot of relationship stuff. So I got the urge to rewrite this story and here we are!**

 **If you have read _I See Sparks Fly,_ welcome back and I hope you will continue reading because I have added some new and greatly improved old stuff.**

 **If you are new to this story, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy creating this story.**

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 **Chapter 1:**

I lay back in the lounge chair and sigh in contentment. The past few hours had been spent traveling back from North Carolina where I was part of filming The Hunger Games for three months. While it had been fun, I was exhausted from that and the travel and was so happy to be relaxing out in the L.A. sun. As soon as I had arrived at the Palmwoods where I would be living for a few months, I threw my luggage in my room, changed into a swimsuit and immediately headed down to the pool.

The pool area is busy with other people taking in the unusually warm spring weather so I decide to listen to some music and maybe take a nap. I choose my uncle's band, Big Time Rush, and close my eyes as the sun warms me up. It's kind of funny that I ended up liking the band that my uncle Gustavo Rocque had created since my father insisted that they were terrible. Of course my dad was wrong, but that was just a result of the rivalry they've had since my dad became a successful film director and my uncle became a successful music producer. Even though they've been a band for a couple years now, I haven't had the chance to meet them because my filming schedule always conflicted with their touring schedule. But now that I'm at the Palmwoods, I should finally have my chance to meet the boys that have caused my uncle to have so many trips to the hospital.

I lay by the pool for a little while and begin to doze off before the sun hitting me is blocked. I start frowning and lay still, hoping whoever is in the way will move soon and I can warm up again. But after a couple minutes have passed and I'm still in the shade, I finally squint up at the person, or in this case, persons. I pull one ear back on my headphones as I look up at them and sigh. "Excuse me but is there any way you could move? You're blocking the sun and I'm trying to relax for a bit."

As my eyes begin to adjust to the sun, I look at the four guys standing in front of my chair. Two of them tower over me while the other two look to be closer to my height. One of the taller ones with long blond hair speaks up, "Sorry to disturb you, but we noticed you're new here and we just wanted to welcome you to the Palmwoods."

I sit up and smile at them now that I know they just wanted to welcome me and weren't trying to be rude by blocking my sun intentionally. He continues, "By the way, I'm Kendall. These are my buddies-"

"Oh I know who you are!" I interrupt him as my eyes have fully adjusted and I see exactly who the four guys are standing in front of me. "You're Big Time Rush!" I look over all of them now that I've made the connection of who they are. The two shorter ones of course are Carlos and Logan, both with short brown hair. Then there's Kendall with his blond hair side-swept like always. And the last guy, James, is standing there and smirks when he notices me checking him out. But with the tight tank top he had on with his muscular arms exposed, it would be hard not to stare. He looks even better than any pictures I've seen.

Logan chuckles at my outburst and sits down at the lounge chair next to mine. "Um, yeah, we are. Are you a fan?"

I nod my head at them and smile at them. I had not expected to meet them within an hour of arriving at the hotel and I'm thrilled to see them. I move over on my chair and pat the space next to me as an invitation for them. James is quick to take the spot right next to me and sits close to me. Logan and Carlos sit on the lounge chair next to mine and Kendall grabs a chair from nearby. "Yeah you could say I'm a fan. Just ask everyone I've worked with on set and they'll tell you all about how I listen to your music on repeat."

"Sweet, you're an actress?" Carlos replies cheerfully as he bounces in his seat. As I look at Carlos, I can see out of the corner of my eye that James is staring at me intently and I can feel my cheeks heating up and hope they think it's the sun causing the redness.

I quickly look at him and see him smirking. Yeah, he definitely noticed my blushing. I turn my attention back to the other guys before I embarrass myself. "Yeah I'm an actress but I'm actually about to start making a record with my uncle over at-" I pause as a thought dawns on me. "Oh I just realized I never introduced myself! I'm Lauren Rocque."

The guys all scream "What?!" and I jump in surprise. Logan starts choking on the drink that he had made the poor decision to be drinking at that time and Carlos slaps him on the back. Once he's recovered, they all start staring at me as if I'm about to grow horns or do something bizarre.

James is finally the one to say something and clears his throat awkwardly. "Rocque?" He questions with eyebrows raised. "Like Gustavo Rocque?"

I sigh as I nod my head. This was a fairly common reaction to my last name as my uncle had created quite the reputation for being crazy. I would have much rather preferred being connected to my father because he was the cool and collected one. "Yeah he's my uncle."

"But you're not evil like him!" Carlos shouts out and quickly covers his mouth before looking around in a panic like he expected my uncle to appear. Kendall slaps him on the arm and glares at him.

I can't help but laugh at his response because I've known for years how my uncle can act. "I totally know what you mean. But luckily I take after my mom's side of the family and they're a lot less crazy than the Rocque family."

"Are your parents staying here with you?" Logan asks curiously. "Because I don't know if I can handle another Gustavo."

"No, they're too busy working so it's just me…" I trail off as I notice all four of them get the same goofy look on their face as they glance at each other.

They all burst out at once, "You have your own place?"

"It's really not that exciting. In fact, it's a bit lonely," I say and stare down at the ground as I think about the empty apartment upstairs with all of the boxes that need to be unpacked. It hit me then that I would be living on my own and without really knowing anyone else here yet. The thought makes me sad and feel a little homesick.

I glance back up at them as they finish what looks to have been a silent exchange. James clears his throat and I look over at him. I get slightly caught up staring at his eyes that are the perfect hazel shade and catch myself before he can notice the staring as he starts talking. "So every Friday, we have a movie night where we watch two different films. And we've decided that we'd like for you to join us."

I start smiling at the invitation as they all stare at me expectantly for a few seconds. The invitation was completely unexpected and I can't help but be happy about not having to spend the evening by myself "It sounds great and I'd love to join you guys. What time? And should I bring anything?"

"You can come over at about 6:30 for dinner, I'm sure my mom won't mind," Kendall replies. "And all you need to bring is your favorite movie, a pillow, and a blanket."

"Sounds like a plan," I say as I stand up and start to gather my things. I pick up my phone and see it's already past five before looking at the guys. "I'm going to head up to my room and get ready. I'll see you guys in a little bit."

I turn towards the lobby and head towards the back where the elevator is. I get past the desk before realizing that I don't know what apartment is theirs. I turn around and start walking back towards the guys as I reach in my purse to find my key at the bottom. "Hey, I forgot to ask what room-" I stop as I glance up and see all of them fighting.

"She's mine!" Carlos yells as he tackles Logan. But then they notice me standing there and they freeze up. We just stare at each other for a few seconds, Carlos has Logan pinned down while James and Kendall are trying to knock the other down.

I eventually clear my throat as it starts to get awkward. The guys step away from each other and it's clear they're embarrassed. "Um, I don't know what apartment is yours," I say as they all sit back down and pretend that I hadn't seen that.

Kendall's face lights up and he lightly smacks himself as he realizes that he forgot to give me that important detail. "Oh it's 2J. Sorry about that," he says with a smile.

"Thanks. Bye guys, again," I say with a wave. As I turn around and start walking past the pool again, I can't help but smile as I hear them start bickering about me again. This is going to be an interesting night.

* * *

I take a deep breath as I stand in front of the door marked 2J before knocking. I immediately hear scuffling going on behind the door and several loud thuds. Finally, the door opens and James is standing there. He changed out of his pool clothes and into tight jeans and a well-fitting v-neck and once again I find myself staring at him. This boy seriously looks good in everything.

I look past him and see Kendall, Carlos, and Logan in a pile on the floor. "Not cool, man!" Carlos shouts at James.

James smirks at me before stepping to the side and sweeping his arm. "Lauren, do come in."

From that smirk, I know he was aware that I was checking him out again and I feel my cheeks heating up. I really need to stop blushing so much around him. I quickly walk past him before he notices and look around at their brightly decorated apartment. Then my eyes land on the slide taking up a good portion of the apartment. "You have a swirly slide!" I say in excitement before dropping my bag. I take off like a little kid and run up the stairs to the top of the slide. "How did you even manage to get this cool of an apartment?"

I go down the slide and walk back to where the guys are standing and chuckling at my reaction. Logan shrugs and responds, "We got lucky at convincing Gustavo to let us keep this after filming here."

Kendall then walks over and links his arm with mine before guiding me over to the kitchen where I notice the woman standing there. "Mom, this is Lauren. You might not believe this, but she's Gustavo's niece!"

"Hello, Mrs. Knight, it's very nice to meet you," I say as I shake her hand. "Thanks for having me over for dinner."

"It's no problem at all," she says and smiles at me. "The guys explained how you're by yourself. So you can join us for dinner any time you want."

I smile at her before hearing a young girl shouting and turn around. "OMG you're Lauren Rocque!" She runs over to me excitedly. "I'm Katie, Kendall's sister. Can I have your autograph?"

"Sure," I say and go to grab the paper she's holding out to me, but she won't let go. I eventually yank the paper from her and hold it above my head where she can't reach it. "What's this?" I say as I read it over and she tries jumping to grab it from me. "A contract saying that you're my manager, you get 60% of my pay, and I have to buy you your own mansion." I hand the contract back to her. "Nice try, but I actually look at things before I sign them."

She scowls at me and crosses her arms. "Darn it, I was so close," she says before stalking off to her room.

I turn around to look at everyone and see Mrs. Knight rolling her eyes. "Don't mind Katie. She does that to everyone she meets who is remotely famous. Now, let's eat!"

We all sit down at the table and the guys start attacking the plates of food and Mrs. Knight explains that it's Fish Stick Friday. The guys don't stop eating until there's one fish stick left and Carlos ends up tackling Logan over it. Mrs. Knight just shakes her head at them and stands up, taking some of the empty plates into the kitchen. Before she heads to her room, she stops and says, "Lauren, if you like you are more than welcome to stay the night. But if you don't, just make sure the guys walk you back to your apartment, okay?"

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Knight. I'll definitely keep that offer in mind." She smiles at me one more time before she enter her room.

I turn back towards the guys and see that Carlos and Logan have started to settle down on the couch and for once they're not fighting about spots. James is taking care of putting a movie in the DVD player and Kendall is in the kitchen putting bags of popcorn in the microwave. I head over and sit down next to Carlos. "So what movie are we watching?"

Kendall walks over to the couch and hands a bowl of popcorn to me and Carlos immediately grabs a handful and shoves it in his mouth. Kendall sits down right next to me, "Well, it was Logan's turn to pick a movie so he chose Alien. And then we can watch whatever movie you bought."

My heart drops when he says what movie we're watching because I absolutely cannot stand horror movies. "Do we have to watch that movie?" I say in a meek voice and it's quite obvious how terrified I am.

"What's the matter, Lauren?" Logan says tauntingly and when I look at him, he's smirking at me. "Can't handle a little scary movie?"

I cross my arms and pout at him. "Fine, but it'll be your fault when I can't sleep later and I come bothering you." I turn away from him and pull my blanket over myself. Then I start munching on my popcorn. "Let's just get this over with."

James chuckles before pressing play for the movie. As the opening title appears, I pull the blanket up to my chin and try not to get scared. The movie goes on for about an hour without anything terrifying happen and I think I'm going to be fine until the alien first appears. I scream and flail around, sending the bowl of popcorn flying. I pull the blanket over my head completely and can hear Logan laughing at my reaction. I stay like that for the rest of the movie, occasionally peeking out and immediately covering up my face again.

The movie finally ends but it takes Kendall saying something for me to move. I glance over at James and he's smirking at me as he stands up and stretches. "Well clearly Lauren liked that movie. So time to get pajamas on?"

The guys all stand up and start walking towards their rooms while I sit awkwardly on the couch since I didn't bring any pajamas with me. Kendall pauses and points to a door, "The bathroom is over there."

"Oh thanks, but I didn't bring any pajamas with me because I didn't know I was going to stay the night."

James walks back over to the couch and grabs my hand. "Come on, you can borrow a t-shirt and shorts from me," he says as he leads the way towards his room and I can feel my cheeks heating up. I stop in the doorway as he goes in and rummages through his dressers. The room is dressed exactly like I would expect from him; minimal decorations and everything is either gray or white. But the main feature in the room is the giant king sized bed in the middle of the room with dark gray satin sheets. I find my eyes lingering on the bed as James digs through his dresser and pulls out a shirt and shorts for me. When he turns around, he sees where I was looking and once again, he's smirking at me and I start blushing. I really need to stop doing that around him.

He walks over to me and stands right in front of me and looks down at me, that stupid smirk still on his face. "Like what you see?"

I clear my throat as I try to collect my thoughts. He's so close to him that I can feel the heat coming off of him and smell his 'Cuda man spray. His whole appearance is intoxicating and I know that's exactly what he intends when he spends hours getting ready. What was it he had asked again?

He has one eyebrow raised at me and he has definitely caught me staring at him. "Um, yeah your room is pretty cool."

He chuckles and holds the clothes up to me and I take them. "Well you can feel free to look any time you want. But here's the clothes so you can go get changed now."

I turn around before I can make a fool of myself and walk over to the bathroom. None of the other guys are out yet and I'm glad because I'm sure I am still blushing from being so close to James. Once I'm in the bathroom, I lean against the door and sigh. I don't know what it is about that boy that makes me get all flustered.

I quickly change into the clothes James gave me, slightly aware that they smell like him. I leave the bathroom and see that all of the guys are sitting on the couch and waiting for me. I grab my bag from the counter and pull out the movie as I sit down, now between Kendall and James. "Thanks again, James, for letting me borrow some clothes."

"It's no problem," he says and flashes me a smile. "So what movie are we watching next?"

I lose my train of thought temporarily because of his smile. "Oh, um, I brought Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It's one of my all-time favorite movies."

Kendall takes the movie from me and hops off of the couch and heads towards the TV. "Sounds like a much better choice than Logan's." Logan throws a pillow at him and we all laugh at them. As the movie gets started, I notice how James has put his arm on the back of the couch behind me. I glance at him briefly and notice him looking at me. Once again, I blush and decide to move closer to Kendall to avoid making any awkward moves towards James.

I try to watch the movie but the whole time I'm aware of James sitting next to me and any time we accidentally brush against each other. Eventually I fall asleep, happily surrounded by my new friends.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello there! If you are reading this, then thank you for continuing on past the first chapter! Before we get to the story, I just wanted to mention that I plan on keeping up a schedule of posting two new chapters every week. I know in the past I've been really bad with keeping up with stories but this time, I am going to update often. Plus, I already have a bunch of the chapters written. But I will let you get on to the story, and please review if you like it so far!**

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 **Chapter 2:**

"L-dog! Great to see you again," my uncle Gustavo says when he sees me enter the studio. Kelly is standing next to him, writing something down on the clipboard that she has always been carrying around for as long as I can remember. Kelly has acted like a family member for me for several years now.

As I sit down on the couch, I sigh at Gustavo using that nickname. "Do you have to call me that?"

"Yes, I do. Because you are talent. And like it or not, all talent are dogs." He walk over to me and throws a pile of sheet music on my lap. "Now, I am going to make you the next big superstar. And I've got the perfect first song that's catchy and makes you want to dance because I'm amazing."

"But aren't I already on my way to being a star with my acting career?"

Gustavo's face starts to turn red as he starts shaking and Kelly quickly grabs headphones and puts them on before he starts screaming. "Don't you ever mention those people again who think they can be famous from acting! The only real way to get famous in this town is through singing and I am the best at that!"

I cross my arms and stand up, unfazed by his outburst. "You're just jealous that my dad has been more successful than you were in the ten years before Big Time Rush."

The shaking gets even worse and Kelly runs and hides behind the couch. The door opens and I hear a familiar voice. "Alright Gustavo, we're here like you asked."

The guys all freeze when they see Gustavo. "Oh no," James whispers. "It's starting."

"Run, now!" Logan yells and heads out the door. Carlos pats his helmet and screams before running over to me and throws me over his shoulder. He then takes off after Logan, Kendall, and James.

"Carlos, put me down!" I yell at him and hit his back as he continues running.

"Sorry, can't do that! Trying to save your life," he responds.

I hear Gustavo shout, "Dogs!" and the ground starts shaking as he starts running after us.

"Quick, in here," Kendall says as he opens up a random door. We all pile into the supply closet and wait for Gustavo to run past.

After we can no longer hear him, Carlos finally sets me down. "So what exactly did you do to make him so angry?"

"I just said that he was jealous of my dad for being more successful with his film career than Gustavo's music career. They don't really get along too well." I shrug my shoulders. "Then you guys showed up, Carlos threw me over his shoulder and took off running. And now we're here." I pause and look around. "Why exactly are we in a supply closet?"

Kendall shrugs at me, "I don't know, it was just the closest room."

"You know he'll find us eventually," I say and sit down on a cardboard box. My phone buzzes and I pull it out of my pocket, seeing a new text from Kelly. I sigh at the text and stand up. "Kelly says that it's safe to go back and that Gustavo has calmed down."

Logan looks at his phone. "Huh, that's a new record for the fastest time that Gustavo has calmed down."

"Yeah well that's probably because he likes Lauren more than us," James says and the guys pause before all agreeing with him.

We walk out and start heading down the hallway. I now get a chance to look at all the posters since we weren't running and they remind me of when I was younger. I pause when I see the one of Boys in the Attic. "Oh, I used to love BIA when I was younger! Kelly used to get me backstage passes to their concerts."

The guys just give me a weird look before grabbing my arm and pull me along with them. "Hey, I was five. They were four cute guys and I had a crush on them."

"Well, we're four guys who are in a band," James says. "Would you consider us cute?" They all strike pose, trying to show of muscles.

I just laugh at them and contemplate telling them what I think before continuing towards the studio. I have always thought that they were attractive, but now that I have met them in person, I've realized that they are very hot.

I turn around and look at where they're still standing there. "Maybe," I say and shrug before turning and continuing down the hall.

"What's that supposed to mean?" James shouts at me and I just laugh.

I hear them running to catch up to me as I turn the corner and see Kelly and Gustavo waiting for us. The guys run around the corner and they scream when they see Gustavo.

"Guys, relax, you're not in trouble," Kelly tells them.

"L-dog," Gustavo starts and takes a deep breath. "We're going to be working together for a while now. And if we're going to make sure I don't have a heart attack, there are some things you're going to have to do."

"What did he just call her?" I hear Carlos whisper to the guys.

Gustavo snaps his head towards them. "Quiet, dogs!" He turns back to me and starts pacing. "Now, Lauren. The things you need to make sure you don't do. First, don't mention your dad if it has anything to do with his success as a director. Second, don't talk back to me. If you can do that, we should be able to get along just fine." He pauses briefly. "I hope."

I think about his requests and reluctantly agree. I'm just too similar to my dad to always get along with Gustavo. "I guess I can try to not talk back."

"Good," he says and walks over to me and puts his arm around me. He turns to look at the guys. "Now dogs, this is my niece, Lauren. She's going to be my next big superstar."

"We actually already met her. In fact, she hung out with us last night," Kendall says with a smile.

"Oh good, I don't have to deal with awkward introductions," Gustavo says. "Now, let's just have Lauren sing her first song then."

"Wait, what? I have to sing right now? In front of everyone?" I can act just fine in front of other people but singing? That's something I've only done in front of very close friends. I realize I have to do this to start my singing career but it doesn't mean I'm not nervous about it.

"Yes, L-dog, you have to sing in front of all six of us. If you're afraid of singing in front of this many people, you're not going to have fun singing in front of 50,000 people someday." He walks over and gives me a push towards the recording booth.

I hesitantly walk in and stand in front of the mic. As Kelly starts talking to me, I put the headphones on. "Okay, the music is on the stand for you. Just pretend that we aren't even here and you'll be fine."

I pick up the music and read that it's called Bad Romance. I look over some of the lyrics and it seems like it should be a pretty catchy song. I look up and see everyone waiting for me. I nod my head at Gustavo to let him know I'm ready and try not to panic.

The guys all give me thumbs up as Gustavo hits a button on the control panel. The music starts playing and I look at the music sheets and try to pretend that everyone isn't watching me. I get through half of the song just fine and when I get to the bridge, I look up and see James smiling at me and he gives a little thumbs up that the rest of the guys don't see. I smile back at him before looking back down at the music with butterflies in my stomach and I feel my cheeks heating up.

Of course the next part of the song is about not wanting to be friends and wanting someone's love. I can't stop thinking about James as I finish up the song. It's bad how much this boy affects me when I've just met him.

I finish up the song and the guys start clapping. I look at Gustavo and wait for his response because his response is the one that really matters. He waits a few seconds for the guys to quiet down before speaking. "Lauren, that was average for your first time but I can make anyone sound amazing. Let's run it again!"

My uncle makes me sing through the song five more times before he decides that it's good enough. When I walk out of the recording booth, the guys all start talking at once about how good I was.

"Dogs, be quiet!" Gustavo says and holds up his hands. "Now, L-dog, great job today. Next time you need to be here is Monday morning and I don't want to see you until then."

I scoff at his goodbye and start walking out of the room and the guys fall into step next to me. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where do you dogs think you're going? We've got work to do on your second album."

"But Gustavo, we've already recorded 8 songs for the album," Kendall complains to him.

"Yeah we need a break!" Carlos yells and when Gustavo starts to turn red, he hides behind James.

"You'll get you're break when we have a finished album, go on tour, and go platinum. Now get in the booth!" Gustavo yells and points to the booth.

I look at the guys frowning and shrug at them. "It's okay, guys. We can hang out later when you're done. Just text me when you get back to the Palmwoods."

I smile at them until they sigh and walk into the booth. Once I see them situated, I head out of the studio and put on some music while waiting in the elevator. When the doors open in the lobby, I take off and start walking back to the elevator, dancing along to my music and not caring about the weird looks people are giving me.

It takes only a few minutes to walk back and as I make my way across the lobby to get to my apartment. A girl wearing a prom dress storms in front of me and slaps me in the face. "How could you? You were my best friend! And you had to pick Chris? Chris, my boyfriend, of all people?" She then runs away screaming and crying.

I clutch my face where she slapped me and standing there in confusion. "What just happened?" I say to myself.

"That would be Camille you just met," Katie says as she walks up to me. "She's the method actress queen of the Palmwoods."

"Does she always go around slapping people she doesn't know?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Kendall gets slapped all the time." She pauses as she adjusts the bag on her shoulder. "Are you coming over again tonight?"

I just shrug because I really have no clue what I'll be doing tonight. "I don't know. I guess it depends on what the guys want to do after they get done recording."

A little boy with red hair runs up to Katie. "Hurry, help me hide! My mom wants me to do a commercial for fiber smoothies."

Katie glances around before dragging the boy off. "See you later, Lauren!"

I give a short wave bye and start heading towards the elevator again. I swear, everyone in this town is so bizarre. I finally get up to my room and throw my purse on the counter before walking into my room and changing into my bathing suit. That was one of the few things I was willing to unpack. Before heading down to the pool, I grab a book to read.

The pool is surprisingly not very busy and I take advantage of this as I lay down and start reading. I get caught up in the book for a while and don't notice the person standing next to me until their clear their throat.

I look up and see Logan and smile at him. "Oh hey, Logan. When did you get back?"

"Just a few minutes ago. I noticed you were down here, so I figured I would stop and say hi."

I look around but I don't see any sign of the other guys. "Where are the others?"

"Gustavo wanted to work with all of us individually and I just was lucky enough to go first." He sits down on the chair next to mine and looks at the book. "Reading anything good?"

I quickly put the book away in my purse. "Nope, nothing good, just a cheesy romance novel."

Logan chuckles at me. "Well I could tell that by Fabio being on the cover."

"He does have a tendency to be on the covers of romance novels."

We end up talking for a while about books and other things. Before I know it, over an hour has gone by. I frown as I look at the time on my phone. "I really should go back up to my apartment and unpack."

"Do you want to come over for dinner again?" Logan asks me as I start packing up my stuff. "I don't want you to have to be by yourself."

"Thanks Logan, but I don't know if I'll make it. I really need to unpack all of my stuff."

I stand up and I'm ready to start heading towards the elevators before Logan stops me. "Wait, Lauren, before you go, I wanted to ask you something."

I smile at him, "Sure, what is it?"

He rubs the back of his neck and looks down at the ground briefly before looking back up at me. "Well, I was wondering if-"

He gets cut off my James yelling, "Lauren, there you are!" I turn towards him and wave and he starts walking over towards us.

I look back at Logan. "What were you going to ask?"

"Never mind," he says with a dismayed look. "I've got to go up to the apartment to finish a science project. I'll see you around."

"Bye Logan," I say as James stops next to me. I smile up at him. "Hey, what's up?"

He flashes a brilliant smile at me. "Not much, just got back from recording an awesome new song. And then I figured I would see what you're doing tonight and if you're going to hang out with us."

"I would but I really need to unpack my stuff." He starts frowning when he hears this and I feel bad. "But I guess you can come chill in my apartment if you want."

He immediately starts smiling again after I say this. "I would love to. Are you heading back up now?"

I nod my head at him. "Yep, let's get going."

James places a hand on my back as we start walking towards the elevator and I'm so aware of him touching me. "So I thought you're song was really great today."

"Really?" I ask and smile at him as we get in the elevator. "I was really nervous about singing it at first but I have to admit, my uncle can write some catchy songs."

We step out of the elevator on the third floor as James responds. "Trust me, you have no reason to be nervous about singing in front of people. Not with your voice."

"Thanks James," I say and smile at him before unlocking my apartment. "That really means a lot. But now, welcome to my apartment." I set aside and let James walk in before following. "Aside from the piles of boxes, pretty nice place huh? I personally think your apartment is cooler but maybe it's because I haven't had time to decorate yet."

"It's a lot better than what 2J used to look like," James shrugs as he tries to make his way around boxes but ends up falling down and knocking over a few boxes.

I run over to him and help him up. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he says while still holding my hand. I feel my heart beat quicken as he looks at me with those perfect hazel eyes. Time seems to stop as he starts leaning in but I snap out of it and back up a bit. As much as I would like to kiss him, I know I should wait until I know him more. He lets go of my hand and clears his throat. "So you need to unpack all of these boxes?"

"Unfortunately yes. I brought almost all of my stuff from my parent's house which is apparently a lot of stuff." I pause and walk over to the kitchen and grab two cans of soda from the fridge, standing with the door open for a couple seconds to cool down and try not to lose my thoughts around him. I turn around and lightly toss a can to him that he catches effortlessly.

I open my can and lean against the counter as he walks over and sits at one of the nearby stools. "Oh you make it seem like such a hard life, having super rich and famous parents and having so much stuff." He starts to take a sip and I smack him lightly on the arm. "Hey, not cool!"

"Well don't imply that I'm a spoiled brat then because I'm not." I cross my arms at him as he gives me a puppy dog look. That might make other people forgive him for silly things but it's not going to work on me. "Now you're going to make yourself useful and make us dinner."

James just looks at me as if I've grown two heads. "And how exactly am I supposed to do that?"

I sigh before going into the freezer and grabbing a box of chicken fingers. I drop them down on the counter in front of him. "Just follow the directions on the box and try not to burn yourself."

I walk over to the boxes and pick one up to carry to my room. I can hear him muttering to himself, "Okay, I can do this," and I just smile and shake my head at him.

I grab a few more boxes marked with 'Clothes' and take them into my room.I unpack all of the boxes for about a half hour and I just barely manage to fit all of my clothes in my closet. I walk out of my room to check on James and smell something burning. I run down the hallway and into the kitchen and see James pulling a pan out of the oven with what I assume was once chicken fingers. "What did you do?"

James smiles apologetically at me and shrugs. "Sorry, I really did try. But I've never actually cooked before."

I grab a pan holder and take the tray from him. The food is beyond consumption. I sigh and dump the chicken fingers into the garbage. I look back at him and he actually looks upset. "James, it's not a big deal."

"Yeah it is, you trusted me with cooking dinner and I failed you."

"Well, you can make it up to me by ordering some pizza. And then you're helping me unpack."

* * *

I plop down on the couch and hold my stomach in pain. "I should not have had that last slice of pizza."

"I know, right?" James says as he sits down next to me. He glances around at the boxes before looking at me. "Do we really have to unpack these now?"

I shrug as I lay down and put my feet across his lap. "I suppose it could wait for a bit."

We sit around talking for a while about random things, like the stupid things him and the guys did back in Minnesota and stories about my dad and uncle getting into ridiculous fights. James has me laughing non-stop and I have so much fun hanging out with him. Without even realizing it, it ends up being after 11 and we've been talking for hours.

"Well we got nothing done tonight. I suppose you're just going to stay over now?" I ask him. "It kind of makes sense since it's already late and I do have an extra bedroom you could use so you wouldn't have to sleep on the couch."

"That sounds great," he says and flashes me that smile that keeps giving me butterflies in my stomach.

We continue talking for a while and I start dozing off. As I'm half asleep, I feel him pick me up and carefully take me over to my room, avoiding all of the boxes. He tucks me into my bed as I'm falling asleep and kisses me on my forehead. "Good night, Lauren."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello and welcome back! I hope you have been enjoying this story so far. I really enjoy this chapter because I feel like it definitely captures the friendship between Carlos and Lauren. Plus it's just a fun chapter. Let me know what you think and I hope you like this chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3:**

I stare out of the apartment window at the pouring rain and sigh. "This sucks! I wanted to do stuff outside on our day off."

I turn around and look at the guys. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

Kendall looks up from his phone and stands up and heads to the door. He starts putting shoes on and shrugs. "I don't know what you're going to do, but James and I have to go over to the studio."

James screams at this. "What?! It's our day off!"

"Yeah well I'm not happy about it either but Kelly just told me that we have to, so let's go." He motions towards the door and James slowly gets up. He drags his feet as he walks to the door with his head down and sighs as he puts his shoes on. Kendall walks out of the apartment and James follows him, slamming the door behind him.

"Oh, that's tough luck for them," Carlos says as he slides down the swirly slide.

I plop down on the couch and look at Carlos and Logan. "Well it looks like it's just the three of us today."

"Actually, it's just you and Carlos," Logan responds as he stands up and starts walking towards his room. He holds up the book he was reading, "I'm going to spend all day reading this. Did you know that from a single molecule of glucose, a cell can make up to 36 ATP through cellular respiration?"

Carlos and I just look at each other as if Logan spoke another language. "And you do realize that we have no idea what you said, right?"

He starts storming off to his room. "Fine, I'll just go read in my room, since you guys don't appreciate the intricate details of cellular respiration!" He shouts before slamming his door.

"What's his problem?" I ask Carlos as he sits down next to me.

"No idea. So what do you like to do on miserable days like this?"

I contemplate this for a minute. "Well, I like to go shopping, and maybe go see a movie…?" I turn the statement into a question as I see him start to get excited.

He jumps up from the couch and grabs both of my hands and pulls me up, nearly throwing me onto the ground. "Yes! I love shoe shopping, let's go!"

I laugh and grab my purse from the counter. "Alright then let's go shopping."

Carlos takes off towards the lobby and I have to almost jog to keep up with him. When we pass the main desk, he stops walking and I almost run into him. "Hey, what's up?"

He turns around and is frowning at me. "How are we going to get there?"

I hold up my car keys and shake them. "Don't worry, I've got it covered."

I walk around him and he runs past me while yelling, "You're the best, Lauren!"

He pauses at the doorway and waits for me. I open my umbrella before walking out and we both huddle under it as I quickly lead him towards my parked silver Porsche. I stop next to it and pat the hood affectionately.

Carlos' jaw drops. "That's your car?"

"Why the tone of disbelief?" I unlock the door and start getting in, then realize he hasn't moved. "Are you going to get in or just stand there getting soaked?"

He snaps out of it and runs over to the passenger side and gets in. He drags his hands over the leather sets. "Whoa, now this is a nice car."

"I know," I say and smile. "It was a gift from my parents for starting my own career."

"Oh I wish I had my own car," he says and starts frowning.

"Don't worry, you'll get your own car eventually," I say as I start the car and pull out of my spot. "But for now, let's get to the mall."

As I make my way down the road, I put the radio on and start flipping through the stations before I find Boyfriend playing. I turn the volume up and start singing along. I glance over at Carlos and see him trying not to laugh at me. I frown and stop singing as I turn back to the road. "What, do I sound bad?"

He starts laughing at this. "No, no, no, the situation is just kind of funny. Me being on the radio and my new friend apparently knowing every word.

"Well you know I've been a huge fan since the start," I turn into the mall parking lot and start looking for a spot. "Of course I know the words to every song."

"Well not for long, since our second album is going to be out soon."

Before responding, I pick a spot and pull the car in. I shut it off and look over at him. "But I get to hear all of the songs before everyone else."

"Nope, you have to wait like everyone else!"

I frown at him and give him my puppy dog face. "Not even a little bit?"

He tries to stay serious but he can't keep a straight face for very long and soon we're both laughing. "Alright maybe you can hear a few songs."

"Good," I say and open out my door and start running towards the building and Carlos is right behind me.

He gets ahead of me and opens the door and holds it for me. I enter the building and start looking around as Carlos walks in and stands next to me.

"So where to first?" he asks.

"I have no idea. I kind of want to get some things to decorate my apartment with, maybe buy some new dresses, and of course get some shoes. Do you want to get anything?"

He shrugs and we start walking around. We pass by several stores before I spot Forever 21 and start dragging Carlos over. "Let's definitely go in there!"

I head in and start looking through the dresses. "Oh, how I've missed this store…" I pick out a few things to try on as Carlos goes through some racks of clothes mindlessly. "Alright I'll try these on real quick."

I go in the dressing room and try on the dresses I picked out and I get Carlos' opinion on each of them. He's brutally honest and tells me if the dress either looks amazing or like I'm wearing a potato sack. I finish and set the few ugly ones on the return rack and loop my arm with Carlos and start walking up to the cashier. "So where to next?"

"Shoe shopping!" Carlos screams excitedly and I laugh as some people give us weird looks.

I hand the cashier my things and as she starts ringing things up, she is giving us a weird look. "I'm sorry, but I feel like I've seen you before."

Carlos puts both hands on the counter and leans over excitedly. "Are you a fan of Big Time Rush?"

She glances at me and I shrug about Carlos' behavior. "Yeah, not really. I've heard them a couple times on the radio but they're not really my type of music."

He starts frowning and I pat him on the back. "It's okay, Carlos." I turn back to the girl and hand her the money for the dresses. She gives me the change and my bag and we head out as she tells us to have a nice day as we leave.

I have to pull Carlos out of the store as he drags his feet and frowns. "How come she didn't recognize me? I'm famous."

"Tough luck, buddy," I pat his back again and he sighs. "Maybe next time." I see a store that is just for posters and pull Carlos along with me. "Come on, this store will make you feel better."

We walk in and Carlos goes to look at some posters on his own. I pick out a few different movie posters before I look up and see displays of cardboard cutouts. "Oh no way."

I head over to the display and laugh at the one of my four new friends. I grab one to buy jokingly and head over to the cashier. As I pay for my things, Carlos walks over to me. "So what did you buy?"

"A few movie posters," I say as I take my items from the cashier. I turn back to Carlos and point towards the cardboard cut out displays. "Oh and that for a good laugh."

"Look, it's me!" He says loudly as he walks over. He laughs as he stands next to himself and gives me a thumbs up.

I laugh as I take a picture of him before hearing a shrill shout. "Oh my god! It's Carlos from Big Time Rush!"

"Carlos, run now!" I grab his hand and we run out of the store, making our way around people as the group of fan girls chasing us continues to grow. I see Macy's and take off into the store, dragging Carlos with me.

I go to the hats and scarves section and toss him some to put on as I put a hat on myself. "We need to hide quickly." I search through my purse and pull out two pairs of sunglasses to wear.

I turn to the front of the store and see that the girls have entered and are looking for us. Turning back to Carlos, I can see him starting to panic at not knowing how to handle these encounters on his own and I try to calm him down. "Don't panic. Don't talk unless you absolutely have to. If you do talk, use a British accent. I'll take care of this and just follow my lead."

I loop my arm through his and walk with him over to the jewelry and pretend to be looking at stuff. The group of girls runs up to us and one of them shouts at us, "Are you Carlos?"

I raise my eyebrows at him to remind him to let me do the talking before turning around. "Carlos? No, this is my boyfriend Ramon," I say in my best British accent as I look at the group of at least ten teenage girls surrounding us. _Please let me be convincing enough._

Another girl speaks up. "But I could have sworn he was Carlos."

"No, sorry to disappoint you, but I have no idea who this Carlos is that you're speaking of," I say and lean into Carlos. "We're just a British couple celebrating our anniversary in America."

The girls start to believe me and some start to leave. I turn and start pulling Carlos away from them. But one of the girls is staring intently at Carlos with her arms crossed. "I don't believe you."

We both freeze up and I can see some of the girls that had started to leave turn back around. I start thinking we're not going to get out of this before Carlos speaks up. "Sorry girls, but I'm not this Carlos lad that you think I am," he says in a surprisingly good accent. "Now if you don't mind, my girlfriend and I would like to continue shopping. Good day."

He starts walking us away from the girls without looking back. Once we're a good distance away, I glance back and see them all leaving, looking rather dejected. "Coast is clear!"

Carlos takes off his scarf and hugs me tightly. "That was brilliant, Lauren! How did you come up with that so quickly?"

I smile at him once he lets go of me. "Well I have two parents in the acting business. They taught me a few things about acting, especially if you have a crowd of fans chasing you and you're by yourself. Something you definitely need some help with."

He shrugs and smiles at me. "Well that was amazing and you probably saved me from a fan girl attack."

"I could have taken them." I grab the hat from his head before going back to the rack and finding better hats for us. "I'm going to buy these for us to wear out. I don't know if I can pull that off twice if you get recognized again."

We walk over to the counter quickly and I pay for them as I look around, making sure there are no girls around before taking the hats back. "I think we should head back because that was enough excitement for one day."

"I agree," he says and holds his arm out to me and I loop mine through his before we start walking. "Now let's just hope that we can make it through the mall without being recognized."

"Hey, it's your fault for yelling 'Hey, it's me!' and standing next to the cardboard cut out of you and the guys."

"Okay, maybe it was my fault. But just wait until you're as famous as me. You'll have fan encounters like this all the time!"

I raise my eyebrows at him and scoff. "Yeah except my fans won't be crazy girls trying to kiss me."

"Fair point," he shrugs at me. "But every celebrity has crazed fans."

We pass by the poster store then and walk a bit faster, just in case there are any fans lurking. We get out the door without any problems.

Carlos cheers and fist bumps the air. "Yes we made it out alive!"

I give him a high five before running towards the car. Carlos follows me and gets to my car right before I do. I open the trunk and throw my stuff in. When I close it and turn around to go to my seat, Carlos is standing right next to me and I jump in surprise.

He smiles a bit at me and I'm surprised by his unusually serious tone. "Lauren, I had a lot of fun today. Thanks for spending the day with me."

"You're welcome, Carlos. I really had a lot of fun too. And it was nice to get to spend some time with just you and not with the other guys around. I hug him before walking to the driver side door and unlock the car. "Alright, that's enough of being serious. Let's go home."

He laughs and runs to his door and gets in. I start the car and begin driving back home. I put the radio on and we sing along to a few songs on the short drive back to the Palmwoods. After parking, we grab my stuff and start heading through the lobby.

Carlos looks over at me as we wait for the elevator. "So are you going to come back to my apartment and hang with us?"

"As long as it's okay with Mama Knight."

He smiles as we step onto the elevator. "She told us to invite you over all the time and that she doesn't want you being by yourself every night."

"She's so nice. I wish my parents were more like her…" I trail off as I start becoming sad over the normal childhood I never got to have.

Carlos gives me a sympathetic smile. "Why?"

The doors open and we step off on the second floor, slowly making our way to 2J. I pause before answering him. "When I was growing up, my parents were never really around. There was always some new movie or project that they had to work on. So we don't really get along too well."

Carlos stops me in front of his apartment to give me a tight hug. "It's alright, Lauren, because you can always stay here with us. You're like family now."

"Thank you, Carlos," I smile at him as I pull away. He opens the door and the guys glance up quickly from their video game.

"Hey, how was shopping?" James asks as he pauses the game, sets down his controller, and immediately walks over to us.

"It was good until Carlos almost got us attacked by crazy fan girls."

Kendall gets wide-eyed at this and falls over as he tries to run over to us. When he finally gets to us, he grabs my hands frantically. "How did you survive? I never get away from them!"

Carlos jumps between me and Kendall excitedly. "She made up this awesome story about us being a British couple visiting here for vacation and Lauren even had a British accent. And we had some hats and sunglasses that we put on too!"

"Sweet, maybe we should just bring Lauren with us whenever we go out so that she can protect us from fans," James says as he walks over and puts an arm around my shoulders before flashing a smile at me.

And I swear my heart starts beating faster from that smile and having his arm around me. He's close enough to feel the heat radiating off him and smell his cologne. I bring myself back in and smile up at him. "Sure, I'm always up for practicing my acting."

"Now I'm going to relax for a bit," I say and drop my bags on the counter before sitting down on the couch. I close my eyes and try to relax.

But I should have known better that it's impossible to have some quiet time with the guys around. I hear the rustle of plastic bags, followed by Kendall's confused voice. "Uh, Lauren?"

"Yeah?" I ask with my eyes still closed.

"Why did you buy a life-size cardboard cut-out of us?"

I open my eyes and shrug as I look over at the guys all standing around Kendall who's holding the cut-out. "Eh, I thought it would be funny since I'm friends with you guys."

"It's a little creepy," Logan says and I chuckle at this.

James sits down next to me a smirks. "Just admit it. You want to be able to look at us all the time."

"Oh yeah, that's obviously why I bought it," I say, full of sarcasm.

James and I just laugh at this as the rest of the guys sit down on the couch with us. Once James stops laughing, he asks me in a somewhat serious tone, "So are you going to stay here for the night?"

"As long as you guys haven't gotten sick of me yet," I happily reply and smile at all of them. When I first moved here, I never would have thought that I would have become best friends with my favorite band. Yet here I am, staying over in their apartment again.

"We could never get sick of you," Carlos responds to me and the rest of the guys agree with him.

"Then it looks like I'm staying over." The guys start cheering and start talking about what we could do tonight as I sit back and smile at these crazy people I call my friends.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello and welcome back to Sparks Fly! So this chapter is just a monster. I'm not sure how it ended up being so long but it did. Things are finally going to start getting interesting with romance in this chapter so you'll definitely want to read it. Please review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4:**

I open up the door to the guys' apartment as I'm humming my new song Freak The Freak Out. Gustavo and I had been working on it for several hours this morning and I have to admit it's a pretty catchy song. So far my uncle has done a good job at writing songs for me that have the potential to be a hit. As stubborn as he is, I can't deny the talent he has.

As I walk in, I hear someone play chords on the guitar and glancing at the couch I see Kendall. He has his eyes closed as he's playing and you can see it on his face how much he enjoys playing the guitar. I walk over to him and he hasn't realized I'm here yet. I stand in front of him for a minute before shouting at him. "Hi Kendall!"

He jumps and slams his hand down on the guitar. I laugh at him as he holds a hand to his heart, pretending to be in shock. "Jeez, Lauren, a little heads up would be nice next time."

I chuckle as I sit down next to him. "But that would be no fun."

Kendall raises his eyebrows at me to ask 'Really?' before laughing lightly. "So how was recording with Gustavo this morning? I didn't feel any earthquakes so I'm guessing it went well."

"It went great and my new song is awesome." I start smiling in excitement about how my demo is coming along. "Wait 'til you hear it!"

"Well can't you just sing it for me now?"

I think about it for a couple seconds and decide why not; I have to get used to performing in front of people soon and Kendall is a good person for getting advice about performing. I motion for his guitar and he holds it protectively to his chest. "Kendall, relax, I know how to hold a guitar and I'm not going to break it."

It takes him a few seconds before he gently hands the guitar to me and as I put the strap around my head, I can see him cringe at every slight bump. I give him a look and he stops this. I start strumming the chords to the beginning of the song and start singing. "Are you listening? Hear me talk, hear me sing. Open up the door, is it less, is it more-" I cut off as I hit a wrong note and start frowning. "Ah, I haven't played the guitar in so long," I hand him back the guitar and he sighs in relief at me not having damaged it.

"That still sounded great," Kendall says and smiles at me and his dimples show. I feel my cheeks heating up and get confused about why Kendall is affecting me like that. "Do you have your own guitar?"

I shake my head no in response. "Not since I was younger."

Kendall stands up from the couch and puts his guitar away in the case sitting on the table in front of us. He holds a hand out for me. "C'mon, we're going to go somewhere."

I take his hand and he pulls me up. I stumble a little and he catches me before I collide into him. He doesn't let go of my hand as he leads me out of the apartment and towards the elevator. "Do I at least get to know where we're going?"

Kendall looks back over his shoulder, a goofy smile on his face. "Nope, it's a complete surprise."

I sigh as we get to the elevator and he lets go of my hand to push the button to go down. As we wait, I'm aware of the emptiness in my hand from where it was holding Kendall's. The door opens and I'm glad as we step on that I have something to distract me from the weird feelings towards Kendall I've been having today. As the doors close and we start moving down, I look over at him and he's still smiling in excitement. "So do you have a way of us getting there or are we going to have to take my car?"

The elevator doors open and as we walk into the lobby Kendall looks at me. "I've got that covered. No need for the flashy sports car."

I gasp in pretend shock. "It is a very nice car, I can't believe you wouldn't want to drive in it."

He just laughs at me as we leave the lobby and enter the parking lot. I glance around and realize I have no idea what car is his. "So where's your car?"

"I don't have one."

I follow him, filled with confusion at this. "Then how are we getting there…" I trail off as Kendall stops in front of a sleek black motorcycle. "You have a motorcycle."

"I have a motorcycle," he repeats back to me as he sits down on the bike a smiles at me.

"And your mom lets you ride that?" I ask as I still stand there staring at the bike, completely shocked that Kendall owns it.

He shrugs his shoulders as he grabs two helmets out of the storage spot. "She doesn't like it but she didn't really have a choice in the matter." He puts his helmet on and hands the other to me and I put it on as I stand there, still trying to process this weird turn of events. "Griffin bought it for me because he wanted me to continue being seen as the bad boy of the band. And because he owns our contract, my mom didn't have much say in it. Plus I really wanted to keep it."

Kendall pats the seat behind him and chuckles at me still standing there. "Well are you going to get on or what?"

I hesitantly sit down behind him. "Hey Kendall?" I ask in a shaky voice. "There's no way I'm going to fall off of this, right?"

He looks over his shoulder at me. "Not if you hold on tight." He starts the bike and revs it and I quickly wrap my arms around his waist before he takes off.

I bury my face into his back, panicking slightly about being on the bike without anything besides my grip on Kendall holding me on. As I hold on to him, I can feel the slightly toned abs that he has but doesn't show off often and I hold him a bit tighter, enjoying the feeling of having someone's body next to mine.

We start slowing down and I look up to see that we're at a stoplight. Kendall looks back at me with a big smile and you can tell he really enjoys being on the motorcycle. "Is it really that bad?"

"I suppose it's not too bad."

He chuckles at me before turning back when the light changes. "Well we're almost there. Two minutes, tops."

We start moving again and I hide my face against his back again, still not comfortable with watching everything move past us. He soon turns into a parking lot and parks, turning off the motorcycle. I still have my tight grip on him as he clears his throat. "Lauren, you can let go now, we're here."

I let go of him and start blushing. "Oh yeah, sorry about that…" I look over at the building and see that we're in front of a guitar store. "So why did you bring me here?"

I look back at him and see him smiling. "We are getting you a guitar."

"Seriously?" He nods his head yes and I hug him. "Thank you so much, Kendall!"

I let go of him and hop of the motorcycle. As I start walking to the building, Kendall is right behind me. We walk in the store and I'm overwhelmed by the amount of guitars in there. The guy at the cash register looks up when he hears the door open and I see recognition on his face as he looks at Kendall. "Oh hey, man. Back already?"

I start wandering around aimlessly through the store as I hear Kendall respond to him. "Yeah but this time I'm here for my friend Lauren to get a guitar." I look over all of the electric guitars and while they're amazing to look at, none of them stand out to me.

Kendall finds me standing in front of a display with my arms crossed and a frown on my face. "Not finding anything you like?"

I shake my head no and glance over at him before turning back to the display. "None of the guitars are speaking to me and saying that they're the one."

"Well maybe you're looking for the wrong type," he suggests and I look over at him again, giving him my full attention.

"Go on."

"Well when I look at you, I don't think of you as being a rocker. So maybe an electric guitar is not the one for you."

He turns around and starts heading for a new part of the store. He waves for me and I start following him. Finally, he stops in front of a display and gestures to them. "Perhaps you would like an acoustic guitar?"

I glance around at the guitars in front of me and know right away that the one for me is among them. I look through all of them, but one keeps drawing my eyes. I gently pick it up and play a couple chords.

"This is the one," I smile up at Kendall. Looking back down at the guitar, I start playing Worldwide since it's one of my favorite BTR songs.

It only takes a few notes for me to mess up and I start frowning. "Here, let me help you," Kendall says as he walks behind me and places his hands over mine. He guides my fingers to the right chords for a minute before slowly stopping and I'm aware of his body pressed against mine and his hands over mine.

As I start heating up, I turn my head to look back at him and his face is inches away from mine before he closes the small distance to my lips. I'm left in shock for several seconds before I realize what is happening and start to kiss him back.

When he pulls away, I can see a slight frown pulling down the corners of his mouth and I know that he realized I wasn't that into the kiss. It wasn't bad but it didn't make my heart beat faster or lose my breath. "Lauren, I really like you a lot. I don't know if you feel the same and it's okay if you don't, but I just wanted to tell you."

I sigh and walk over to one of the benches near us and I pat the space next to me for Kendall when I sit down. I stare away from Kendall as I try to figure out what I would say for him. He is a wonderful guy and I enjoy spending time with him but he doesn't necessarily give me butterflies in my stomach or make my heart rate increase when he smiles at me. "Kendall, you're a really great guy. But I just don't know if I feel the same way about you as you do about me…" I trail off as I look at him with a frown on his face.

"I get it, Lauren. You need time to figure it out if you feel the same." He looks away and starts fidgeting with his hands for a minute before looking back at me. "Any chance that you might ever give me a chance?"

I place a hand on his cheek before leaning in and giving him a light kiss. I try to ignore the fact that it wasn't anything special and sending off fireworks as I pull away from him and smile. "Of course, Kendall. You're honestly one of the sweetest guys I know and any girl would be lucky to have you interested in her."

A smile lights up his face and his eyes crinkle in excitement. "Really?"

I smile back at him. "Really. The best way for me to figure out how I feel is to give you a chance."

Kendall gives me a quick kiss on the cheek before hugging me. "Thank you so much, Lauren. You won't regret this."

"I'm sure I won't. But can we just keep this a secret for now? At least until I figure out how I feel for sure."

He stands up and holds his hand out for me. As I grab it, he pulls me up. "Of course," he says as he pushes a piece of my hair back. "Now, let's go pay for your guitar."

We walk up to the counter still holding hands and I give the guitar to the cashier. As he rings everything up, I start reaching in my purse to pay but Kendall stops me.

"Lauren, I'll pay for it," he says as he sets down his credit card on the counter.

"No, you're not. That's a lot to pay for," I say and put my credit card on top of his.

"Half?" Kendall asks with an eyebrow raised at me and trying not to laugh at my stubbornness.

"Fine, half," I agree as I cross my arms at him. Part of me just doesn't like guys spending a lot of money on me if we're dating and this was way too much for Kendall to spend on me. But he's just as stubborn as me and we probably would have been here all day if I hadn't agreed to him paying half.

Kendall chuckles before turning back to the cashier and signing one of the receipts before handing the other to me. "Hey Dustin, can we pick this up later? We're on the motorcycle now."

Dustin nods his head as I hand him my signed receipt. He picks up the case and starts to walk into the employee room. "No problem man. See ya."

We walk out of the store and head over to Kendall's motorcycle. He passes me a helmet before putting his on. "So where to now?"

I just shrug at this. "I don't know, we could just head back to the Palmwoods and relax."

"Sure, whatever you want to do," he smiles and gets on the motorcycle.

Once I have my helmet on, I sit down behind him and wrap my arms around him tightly now that I know what to expect on the ride this time. Kendall starts the bike and we start heading back to the Palmwoods. I try to keep my head up this time and I quickly realize that being on a motorcycle is actually pretty exciting.

When we park, I'm smiling as I get off of the motorcycle. "You know, that was actually a lot of fun."

I hand him my helmet and he's smiling as he puts them away. "See, I told you it's not that bad!"

We start walking back into the Palmwoods and make our way to the elevators. "Well, I'm going to go grab the keys to my mom's car and then go pick up your guitar."

The doors open and we step on. I look up at him and smile as we make our way up. "That sounds very nice of you so thank you."

"It is no problem." The doors open on his floor and once he sees that no one is in the hallway, he gives me a quick kiss before stepping off. "I'll see you in a little bit."

Once the doors close, I sigh as I go up another floor to get to my apartment. Now that Kendall isn't around, I can't help but wonder what I'm doing with trying to date him when I know I don't have those feelings towards him. He's an incredibly nice guy and I wish I had the same feelings he did for me but the chemistry just wasn't there when we kissed.

I open my apartment door and take out my phone as I start navigating through some of the boxes still sitting on the floor as I make my way to the couch. This is definitely something that I need some advice on so I send a quick text to Carlos. _'I need some advice, com up to my apartment please?'_

His response comes instantly. _'Be there in a minute.'_

I sit back on the couch and close my eyes, trying to avoid thinking about this messy situation that I've gotten into. Sure enough, after a minute I hear a knock on my door. I get up and walk over, opening it to see Carlos standing there and smiling at me.

"You rang?"

"Yes, I need some major advice."

He pats his helmet before running in and I shut the door behind him. He turns back to look at me. "So what's the problem?"

I sit down on the couch and he sits next to me. "Okay so Kendall and I went to the guitar store today and while we were there, he kissed me."

Carlos gasps at this and excitedly hits the couch. "Did you kiss him back?"

I nod in agreement. "But the thing is, I'm not sure if I feel that way about him."

He gives me a weird look before smiling. "That's because there's someone else, isn't there?"

I blush and turn away, not sure if I want him to know about my feelings towards James because I'm not even sure if I want to have these feelings. "Maybe…"

He nudges me lightly. "Come on, Lauren, you can tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone."

I look back at him and see him smiling expectantly at me. "Okay, so I kind of have a big crush on James."

Carlos gets a big goofy smile on his face and jumps up in excitement. "I knew it! You guys would be so cute together and you should definitely try to look into the possibility of dating him."

"Yeah, well what am I supposed to do about Kendall?" I ask exasperated as he sits back. I stand up and start pacing in front of the couch. "He's such a sweet guy and any girl would be lucky to have Kendall like her. I just don't think I like him the same way but I told him I would give him a chance to see if I do start getting feelings. And now that I'm thinking about it, I've realized that I just don't think he is the guy for me. But I don't want to break his heart!" I stop and stand right in front of Carlos. "What should I do?"

He stands up and puts his hands on my shoulders. "Lauren, relax." I sigh and look away from him. "Look at me. Try going on a couple dates with him. You never know, you might start to like him. And if you don't, just tell him. Kendall is one of my best friends and I know that he'll understand. And at least you can say that you tried. The feelings just might not be there."

I hug him tightly once he is done with this. "Thanks, Carlos. You really are great at giving advice."

He pulls away and smiles at me. "Anytime you need advice, just let me know and I'll help. Besides, that's what friends are for." He glances over at the door and back at me. "Now I'm going to leave before Kendall gets back. He might take it the wrong way if he sees me here with you."

"Yeah that's a good idea." Carlos walks to the door and opens it. Before he leaves I stop him. "Carlos, thanks again."

He smiles and leaves, shutting the door behind him.

I sigh and sit back down on the couch before turning the TV on. I need to do something to keep my mind preoccupied before Kendall gets here. If I don't, I'm going to make myself panic at seeing Kendall and figuring out what I should do. MTV comes on and I'm about to change the channel before I hear something that makes me pause. "And in other news, does Kendall Knight of Big Time Rush have a new girlfriend? Stay tuned to find out!"

I sit up, suddenly alert and panicking about something new. This is too much of a coincidence. Could it really be about me? Or is it too soon? But then again, gossip does travel so fast in this town. I sit around contemplating this during the commercial break before it gets back to the show and I turn the volume up, not wanting to miss any word.

"So does Kendall from BTR have a new girlfriend? These pictures of him taken earlier today sure seem like it." A picture of us walking out of the guitar store pops up on the screen and I just wonder where the paparazzi even was that I didn't see them.

I hear a knock on the door and shout, "Just come in, it's open!"

On the TV, a couple more pictures of us flash by, including one of me hiding my face while on the back of Kendall's motorcycle. "Hey, what's up?" Kendall asks but I shush him.

"The girl seen with his is rising star Lauren Rocque. She is in the upcoming movie The Hunger Games and she's also signed on at Rocque Records."

Kendall sits down next to me and stares at the screen shocked. "What the hell?"

"So is there big time love forming between Kendall and Lauren?" I turn the TV off, not wanting to hear anymore.

"So MTV apparently thinks we're dating," I look over at Kendall and his has a shocked look still on his face. "Don't you just love how quickly gossip spreads in this town?"

He scoffs and stands up. "Sometimes I really hate this town and all of the crazy people who like to make up stories about things that might not even be true!"

I sigh at his outburst. Yeah this made me angry but it is something I can't really stop. "Kendall, there's nothing you can do about it, so no point getting all mad."

"You're right," he walks over to the table and grabs a guitar case and his sitting next to it. "Well here's your guitar. And I figured I would bring mine over so I can teach you some songs."

"Cool, sounds like fun," I say as he hands me my case. I open up the case and see it there shining and I have to pause to just to stare at it for a few seconds. "It's so pretty…"

Glancing up, I see Kendall smiling at me. "It is a nice guitar." He takes his own out of the case and puts the strap on his shoulder. "So what song do you want to learn first?"

"Well I was thinking maybe you could teach me one of your songs?" I can feel my cheeks starting to blush in embarrassment over being so into BTR.

Kendall just laughs lightly at this and smiles. "Sure. How about Boyfriend?"

I just nudge him, "You would pick that song."

He smirks and winks at me before playing the opening of the song and then stops so I can repeat what he played.

We practice for a while with Kendall also teaching me Big Night and my own song Bad Romance. After we finish, he stands up and puts his guitar away. "I had a lot of fun today, Lauren."

After putting mine away, I smile over at him as we walk over to the door. "Yeah, me too."

We pause and Kendall has his hand on the doorknob. There's that awkward pause where neither of us quite knows if we should kiss before he leans in and kisses me lightly, lingering for a few seconds before pulling away.

I sigh as I know deep down how I feel and what I need to do but not wanting to say it. "Kendall, listen. You're a really nice guy, but…"

"But you just don't feel the same way. I could tell when we kissed." He looks away sadly and I feel pain in my heart from making someone as nice as him feel like that.

"I'm so sorry, Kendall but the spark just wasn't there. I just want you to know that you're one of the nicest guys I know and any girl would be the luckiest to date you."

He looks up and gives me a smile but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I understand. There's someone else, isn't there?"

I see no point not being honest with him and nod my head. He shakes his head and says to himself, "Damn it, why does James always get the girls?"

I raise an eyebrow at him, confused at how he picked up on that because I didn't think I made it obvious. "How did you know it's him?"

"I can tell just by the way you look at him." Kendall turns and opens the door, his shoulders hunched down and I feel worse about this. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Kendall," I say and close the door behind him.

Once the door is shut, I sigh and go back to the couch and I lie face down on it. Being honest with Kendall was obviously the right thing that I needed to do but man does it suck knowing you hurt someone's feelings. I stare around at all of the boxes that still need to get unpacked and sit up, deciding that unpacking would be the best way to get my mind off of this situation.

I sit down on the floor in front of a box marked 'fragile' and open it to find picture frames wrapped in bubble wrap. The first one I see is a picture of me and my best friend Rachel from the first time we went to a red carpet event together. I start smiling at the picture, remembering that day and how much our parents were freaking out about us wearing expensive dresses. I pick up a few more pictures, a bunch of me and Rachel over the years, some of me working on some of my projects over the year. I grab the frames and start carrying them into my room, placing some on my dresser and the rest up on my walls.

As I walk back into the living room, I hear a knock on the door and I briefly question who is there since I didn't invite anyone else over today. I navigate around boxes without tripping and open the door to see James standing there. He's leaning against the door frame and wearing a thin white t-shirt and swim trunks, clearly having just been down at the pool. The shirt is tight enough that I can see his toned abs and I catch myself staring and my breath catches as I look at him.

"Hello, Lauren. How are you doing on this fine day?"

I clear my throat and realize that once again he's smirking at me and knows that I was looking at him. Once again I'm blushing around him and I start stuttering, "Oh um, I uh, I'm great. Um, do you want to come in? I'm not really doing anything exciting right now, just unpacking some more."

"I don't care if you're doing the most boring thing, I'll gladly spend time with you," he says as he walks past me into my apartment and I feel like my face should be as red as a tomato right now with how much I'm blushing.

James sits down at the counter and looks over at me. "So what did you do today?"

"I went and bought a guitar with Kendall today and then he taught me a few songs."

"Sweet, can I hear you play something?" He asks as he hops off the stool and goes over to my case and opens it, looking at the guitar.

"Maybe later," I say as I walk over to him. "But for now, you're going to help me unpack."

Dragging him by the arm, I stop him in front of the box and give him instructions on what to do with the contents of it. I go back to the box that I had been unpacking and as I pull out more pictures, I can't help but smile at all of the memories. The last picture I take out of the box makes me start to tear up a bit at how things used to be with my family.

"Was that when you were younger?" James asks while looking over my shoulder and I jump, not having noticed him walk over to me.

"Yeah, it is, I think I was six at the time. But it was back when my parents wouldn't book as many projects so that they could spend some time with me."

I look over at him and I'm overwhelmed with longing and sadness for a different time. It takes only a couple seconds of James looking at me before he pulls me in to a tight hug. As I wrap my arms tightly around him, I lean my head against his shoulder and fit perfectly. We stay like that for a minute and I'm content to stay there forever as it is so comforting to have someone embrace me while I'm upset. After a little while, he pulls away slightly and places a hand against my cheek and as I put my hand over his I look at his eyes and the rest of the world seems to stop around us before he leans in.

As his lips touch mine, I feel my heart beat faster and my breath catches. The kiss only lasts for a couple seconds but all too soon, he pulls away and I can feel the heat on my cheeks as I start blushing. "Lauren, you know that you can talk to me whenever you need to."

I nod my head, not trusting what I might say if I open my mouth. I move away from him, starting to feel awkward about still being in his arms. As I turn away from him, I lightly touch my lips and I can feel the lingering pressure from where his were a minute ago. All I can do is walk over to my kitchen and grab a glass of water as I try to collect myself. "So, um, what do you want for dinner?"

James followed me and is leaning against the counter, the muscles in his arm showing. I look up at his face to try not to be distracted by his toned muscles but it's worse looking at him as he smirks at me and his eyes are sparkling and it's clear he knows the effect he is having on me and is amused by it. "Whatever you want is fine with me."

I take a sip of water as I try to collect myself still. As I set the glass down, I open a drawer and pull out all of my take-out menus. "I don't really feel like cooking…" I spot the menu for my favorite Chinese restaurant and my mouth starts watering. "Okay I know what we're getting," I say as I pull my phone out of my pocket. "I hope you like Chinese food."

James settles onto a stool as he looks at me. "As long as you order General Tso's chicken, I'm good."

I just laugh at his response. "Already planning on it since that's the only thing I ever order." I call the restaurant to place the order and when I'm done, I look over at James. "Alright it will be ready in about 15 minutes so do you want to leave in about five minutes?"

"Sure, can I just go get changed first?"

I nod before grabbing my keys and purse from the table by the door and slip on shoes. "Alright let's go."

We leave the apartment and start going the short distance to his apartment in silence. I'm wrapped up in my thoughts as we walk, still so confused about the kiss James and I shared and how he hasn't acknowledged it at all. As we walk in, I see Carlos on the couch and James starts heading over towards his room. "I will be ready in two minutes."

Carlos pauses the game and looks over at me as I walk over to the couch. "Hey, what's up?"

I sit down next to him and sigh. "Well after you left, I found out that there's a rumor that Kendall and I are dating. Then Kendall came over, taught me some songs on the guitar, he kissed me, and then I realized that I don't have feelings for him. After that, James came over and he kissed me. And now we're going to get Chinese food." Carlos just has a shocked look on his face as I finish explaining how crazy today has been. "So how has your day been?"

"It was fine, but James kissed you?" He gets excited and almost yells the last part and he jumps off the couch.

"Shh, yes he did and would you sit back down?" I wait for him to sit down next to me and he gets up in my face waiting for me to continue. "And it was more like a pity kiss because I was upset after seeing a picture of me and my parents from when I was younger."

"A kiss is still a kiss," he gives me a goofy smile. "Did you see sparks?"

I look away and smile as I think about that short kiss, how my heart sped up and I became breathless. "…Yeah," I look back at him and start smiling more as I think about how nice it was to kiss him.

Carlos starts to say something but James walks out. "Alright Lauren, let's go."

James walks over to the door and I stand up. "Bye Carlos," I say and start walking after James.

I look back at Carlos and he's smiling as he holds up his phone and mouths, 'Text me later,' and I wave over my shoulder at him, letting him know I will.

James is waiting at the door for me and holds it open as I walk out. We start making our way down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. "So do I finally get to see this car that Carlos won't stop talking about?"

"Of course," I say as we enter the lobby. Logan and Camille are sitting there and we wave to them as we pass by. As we walk out into the parking lot, I turn around to look at James. "Prepared to be wowed by how awesome my car is."

I quickly walk over to my car and unlock it, sliding into the driver seat as James runs a hand over the hood. Once he gets in, he just smiles at me like a child. "Okay it is pretty awesome. I'm totally going to have a car like this when I'm super famous some day and own like five houses."

I look over at him and smile as I start the car. "That might not be that far away," I pause as I pull out of my parking spot. "Well, at least the super famous part."

I can see his face light up out of the corner of my eye. "You think so?"

"I know so," I say, smiling as I turn out of the parking lot and make my way to the restaurant. I turn on the radio and can't help but start laughing when the first song I hear is Boyfriend. I start singing along and James joins in with me and by time the song is over, I'm laughing hard about how weird it is to be singing along to a song on the radio with one of the people who sings the song.

Once the song is over, I turn down the volume a bit and look over at James when we're at a stoplight. "You know, Kendall taught me that song on the guitar earlier."

"Yeah? And when am I finally going to get to hear you play it?"

"Maybe after we've had dinner," I turn into the restaurant's parking lot and find an empty spot. "Alright you can wait in here real quick if you want while I go grab the food."

"I'll go get it, Lauren," James smiles at me before opening the door and starting to get out of the car.

"Wait, take some money so I can pay for part of it!" He just waves and shuts the door in answer to me, clearly not wanting me to worry about paying for it.

I just sigh as I pull out my phone and decide to text Carlos while James is inside. _I definitely need help dealing with James because I'm falling for him HARD._

While waiting for a response, I look inside the windows to see if James has the food yet and see that he's at the register. But it only takes a minute for Carlos to answer and I'm glad he's one of the people who responds immediately. _Don't worry about it, I know James and I'll help._

I smile as I put my phone in my purse and James walks over to the car. When he gets in, I smile at him and start my car. "You know, I've had such a great time ever since I moved to the Palmwoods and met you and the guys. So thanks for having talked to me that day."

James smiles and half hugs me. "I'm so glad I met you too."

As he pulls away, I turn back to the road and leave the parking lot. As I'm driving, I smile as I think about how lucky I am to have met James and the other. I glance over at him, "So I was thinking since my birthday is next month that I want to have a party here, especially since I'm turning 18."

"Sweet, what day is it? Mine's next month too."

"It's the 15th."

James gasps in surprise and I raise an eyebrow as I glance over at him. "No way! Mine's on the 16th and I'm going to be 18 too!"

As I turn into the Palmwoods lot, I'm grinning like crazy. "Then let's have the party be for both of us!"

When I'm parked, he laughs and gives me a high five. "This is going to be the greatest social gathering ever!"

As we make our way back to my apartment, I start thinking about all the plans that need to happen before this party. "So who should we invite?"

"Well obviously Carlos, Logan, and Kendall," James says as we get in the elevator. "Probably some other people at the Palmwoods, like Camille, the Jennifers, and Lucy. Anyone you want to invite?" He asks as we step out on the third floor.

"I need to invite my friend Rachel. She really knows how to throw a party and we can count on her to bring some alcohol."

"Huh, I wasn't sure if you would be someone that drinks," I roll my eyes at him as we enter my apartment. "Well that will make the party a lot more fun."

I grab some plates and he sets the bag off food on the counter. "Just wait until you see me after a few drinks, I really know how to party."

I start scooping food onto our plates before sitting down next to him. "Well I'm pretty excited for this party now," he says before taking a bite of food. "We're just going to have to make sure Mama Knight doesn't find out about us drinking. She's cool about a lot of things but that isn't one of them."

"No problem," I say around bites of food. "You guys can just crash here. Also we need to make sure that Katie doesn't come because she's too young for that."

James nods his head in agreement at this. "Anyone else you want to invite?"

I pause while eating food to answer him. "Probably a few of my friends from filming The Hunger Games. And maybe a couple model friends."

James chokes on a little bit of food and I slap him on the back. "Did you say models?"

I just laugh at his reaction and how I sometimes forget that they didn't grow up in Hollywood and know a lot of other famous people. "Yes, I said models. Maybe we can get Carlos a girlfriend."

"Good luck with that, I've been trying for years with no success," James says before taking a final bite of food. He leans back in his chair and groans. "I'm so full."

I continue eating, not understanding how he ate so much food in such a short time. "Well maybe you shouldn't have stuffed your face."

"Hey, I couldn't help it," he says as he slides off the stool and walks over to the couch and lays down. "How do you not eat a lot of Chinese take-out?"

"Um, you just stop?" To prove my point, I stop eating and go to the couch, laying on the other half and his head ends up next to mine.

"So what now?" He asks as he turns to look over at me.

I shrug in response and turn the TV on. MTV is still talking about me and Kendall and I'm about to change the channel before James stops me. "Wait, you and Kendall are dating?!"

I sigh before I turn my head to look at him. "No, we aren't. It's just people trying to make something up when there's nothing there. Some person took pictures of us today on his motorcycle and while leaving the store together, so obviously they decided to say we're dating."

He smiles and looks back at the TV. "Okay good."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I nudge him and he just laughs.

"It means that I'm just glad you're not dating him."

I'm left wondering what he meant by that as he doesn't say anything more about it. But as we lay there watching TV with him so close to me, I can't help but think about how nice this is and hope that maybe he feels the same way about me as I do about him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello and welcome back! If you are reading this, then you're awesome and thank you for continuing to read the story.**

 **I think this chapter is a fun one, things start to get exciting and it really shows Lauren's friendship with the guys and others at the Palmwoods. But I'll stop rambling and let you get to reading it. Please review/favorite and let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5:**

I walk into the studio with the guys right next to me. Gustavo and Kelly are standing there waiting for us and I can't tell if it's a good thing or a bad thing. My uncle doesn't look like he's about to have a heart attack so I'm going to assume it isn't something bad.

"Dogs," Gustavo says when he sees us. "I have some news for you. So in two months, Big Time Rush will have," he pauses to create suspense and the guys all lean towards him in excitement. "A concert!"

The guys start cheering, Logan starts dancing, Kendall is fist bumping the air, and James and Carlos hi-five each other. And I just stand there watching them while being so confused. "Um, why am I here then?"

Kelly turns to me as the guys calm down and remember that I'm there. "Great question. In order to get you exposure and to get people to want to buy your music, you will be opening for them."

"Really?" My uncle and Kelly nod their heads yes. "That's awesome!"

"This is going to be the coolest concert ever!" Carlos shouts and the guys all agree with him.

"Hey, that's enough cheering. The dogs all know how much training there is for a concert. On top of that, we need to finish the last song on the dogs' second album and L-dog needs to record a couple more songs for her EP. So this is going to be a long two weeks." Gustavo claps his hands and a bunch of people run in and strike poses. "Dogs, you'll be working with Mr. X first to learn the choreography to your new songs. L-dog, you'll be with me recording your next song. Now get to work!"

People start running around and in the chaos, the guys are pushed towards the dance studio. Kelly grabs my arm and leads me to the recording booth. As I walk in, I see music on the stand and look over the song called Hold It Against Me before I put the headset on. As I look over the lyrics, I can't help but raise my eyebrows at some of them. "Isn't this song a bit inappropriate?"

"Yes, yes it is," my uncle responds and he just looks annoyed at me. "But your target audience is teenagers and supposedly they like songs like this."

I cross my arms at him. "Do you even know anything about teenagers?"

"Just sing the song!" he shouts at me. "We need at least two more songs before the concert so don't worry about the lyrics."

I shrug at him and just nod my head at him, letting him know I'm ready to sing. Gustavo starts the music and I single through the song, trying not to pay attention to the facial expressions he makes. It only took a couple of times recording to learn that looking at him is a terrible idea because he'll make you perform worse.

Once I finish singing the song, I look up at him. "Okay, Lauren, that wasn't bad. You were a bit pitchy during the first chorus but other than that, we can make it work."

"So I'm singing it a few more times?"

He just gives me a thumbs up before starting the music again.

A few time ends up being over an hour worth of singing before my uncle finally decides that the song is good. When I walk out of the booth, my uncle hands me a cd. "This has all three of your songs on it. Take it to Mr. X so you can learn dances for them and then send the dogs over when they're done."

As I walk out of the room and make my way to the dance studio, I can't help but stare at the cd. It's still shocking that I have my own songs recorded that people will soon be able to buy. I hear music playing before I enter the room. I pause and listen to the song playing that makes me want to start dancing. "Elevate a little higher. Let's throw a party in the sky and celebrate. Elevate until we're flying. Move, move your feet until you levitate, c'mon let's elevate!"

I enter the dance studio and see the guys trying to dance and Mr. X yelling at them while saying 'X' before 90% of what he says. I stand there watching them for a couple minutes before Mr. X notices me. "Oh X-cellent, you are here. I am almost done trying to teach Big Time Rush today. For now, you can watch." He turns back to the guys and sees that they've already started goofing off. "What are you doing?"

Carlos is doing a head stand against the wall. James is looking at himself in one of the mirrors in the wall and unsurprisingly is fixing his hair. And Logan and Kendall are sitting on the floor playing cards.

"Got any 5s? Logan asks and Mr. X grabs his hair and starts looking very stress.

"Nope," Kendall responds. "Go fish!"

"I give up!" Mr. X shouts before going to the wall and repeatedly banging his head against it.

I walk over to Kendall and Logan and sit down next to them. "Jeez, he stops for one minute and you guys are already goofing off. I don't get it."

"Well you try dancing for an hour and a half straight! It gets boring!" Carlos shouts from over by the wall before falling over.

James comes over and sits down next to us. "So how did your recording go? I haven't heard Gustavo shouting so it couldn't have gone too bad."

"It went pretty well. We got a third song recorded and now I'm supposed to have Mr. X teach me dances to the three songs."

"Oh good luck with that," Carlos says as he rolls over to us. "These long dance sessions are the worst!"

"You only think that because you can't dance," Logan responds without looking at him and continuing to play the card game with Kendall.

Carlos smacks him on the head and that gets Logan's attention. "You dance just as bad as I do."

Logan throws down his cards before turning to him. "I do not!" He smacks Carlos who just hits him back. They start repeatedly slapping each other and I just laugh at them.

"There they go again," Kendall says as he leans back on his arms while watching them. "That's what, the third time today?"

I notice Mr. X rocking himself in the corner and realize I need to get the guys out of here quickly before he quits. "Guys, stop." They just ignore me and I sigh before I stand up.

"What are you doing?" James asks while looking up at me.

"Taking matters into my own hands before Mr. X passes out or quits," I reply before walking over to the boys slapping each other and yank on the back of Carlos' shirt, pulling him away from Logan. I push him behind me and stand between the two with my arms crossed. I look back and forth at them. "Seriously, you guys are acting like little kids and we have important things to get done for this concert. So knock it off."

James and Kendall just stare at me in shock while Carlos and Logan agree to stop the fighting. "How did she do that?" James quietly asks Kendall.

"You guys are forgetting that I had to do combat training for the film I just spent the past few months filming." I smirk when I see their surprised faces. "So you might not want to mess with me."

I walk around them to pick up the cd I set down before walking over to Mr. X who is sitting against the wall defeated. "My uncle told me to give this to you so you can teach me dances for the three songs and the guys are supposed to go see him."

He looks up at me, his mood instantly picking up. "I do not have to try teaching them how to dance anymore?"

"Not for now, you don't," I say and he immediately jumps up and strikes a pose with his arms making an X. I turn to look over at the guys. "You should probably go see my uncle now. You know how he gets when he has to wait."

Kendall and James scramble to get up while Carlos takes off running out of the room, patting his helmet as he runs. The rest of the guys start running after him, but James pauses just before leaving. "Good luck with your dancing," he says and smiles at me, then runs out of the room.

I turn back to Mr. X and I'm still surprised by the complete change in his mood. "Are you ready to be taught the art of dancing?" He strikes a pose after this.

I nod my head and smile at him. "Yep, let's do this."

* * *

"Ugh, I can barely walk," I say as the guys and I slowly make our way into the Palmwoods, dragging our feet along after several long hours of dancing.

"Want a piggyback ride?" James offers me and I couldn't be happier about it. Dancing was exhausting today and I shouldn't have been skipping on going to the gym since I got here. I nod my head yes and he walks over to me and crouches down so that I can actually reach his back and he picks me up.

We continue heading through the lobby when a girl with red streaks in her hair stops the guys. "Hey guys, what's up?" She just looks at me slightly confused before shrugging.

Kendall responds to her first. "Not much, just had a long day of preparing for a concert we're having in two months." I clear my throat and Kendall looks at me. "Oh! I forgot, Lucy, this is our new friend Lauren. Lauren, this is Lucy Stone, future rock star."

I hold my hand out to her over James' shoulder and she shakes my hand. "Nice to meet you," I say and smile.

"Same. So I was trying to find you guys to see if you wanted to hang out tonight with Camille and I? You can join us too, Lauren."

The guys all agree right away with new energy that they had lost at the studio and everyone looks at me and waits for my response. "Yeah it sounds great. Maybe now I can make some other friends so I'm not hanging out with the guys all the time."

"Hey!" they all shout at me and I just laugh at them.

"Oh you guys know I love hanging out with you. But I really should try making other friends here, preferably female."

James turns his head to look at me after I say this and smiles. "You do have a point."

I have to look back at Lucy to keep myself from blushing at his face being so close to mine. "So we'll see you in a little bit? What time?"

"An hour sounds good. See you guys then," Lucy says with a smirk before walking to the pool. I'm not sure what to make of her but she seems like an interesting person and the guys all seem to like her.

The guys continue walking to the elevator once Lucy is gone and I rest my head on James' shoulder, realizing again how exhausted I am from two hours of dance rehearsals now that Lucy isn't around to distract me anymore. The guys are all surprisingly quiet as we stand on the elevator and I'm sure they're also just as exhausted as I am. I'm quickly learning that preparing for a tour is a very long process and we're only on day one of two months.

When we walk into our apartment, everyone starts plopping down into chairs. "Alright James, thanks for carrying me. You can put me down now."

James doesn't let go of my legs and just chuckles as he walks over to the couch. "Well that would be no fun," he says before sitting down with me still on his back and squishes me between him and the couch.

"Not cool, James!" I can't help but laugh as I lightly hit him on the back because it was a funny thing for him to do and I would have done the same thing if I was him. He laughs a bit before moving and sitting next to me.

"Well since we have an hour before we are going to Lucy's, I'm going to try to take a nap."

"Fair enough," Logan says as he pulls out a book to start reading. James puts the TV on quietly and Kendall and Carlos start talking to each other.

I lean my head back against the couch and close my eyes, happy to finally be able to relax. But as I try to tune out the sounds that the guys are making, sleep just seems to evade me. After a few minutes, I feel something hit my face and I sigh before opening my eyes and seeing Carlos holding a bowl of popcorn. "Really, Carlos? You're going to throw food at me?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't throw anything at you." He smirks at me as he grabs a handful of popcorn and shoves it all in his mouth.

I sigh and shake my head at him as I close my eyes and try to go to sleep again. But once again, I feel popcorn hit my face and I glare at Carlos. "Go ahead. Try it one more time and see what happens."

We stare each other down and after a minute I turn away, satisfied that I had won and Carlos would stop. I go to talk to James when I get hit in the face. "That's it, no more playing nice!" I shout as I turn to Carlos and stand up. I tackle him and knock the bowl of popcorn out of his hands. As I push him to the floor, I sit on his chest and prevent him from moving. I cross my arms and chuckle a little at my achievement because I'm surprised I was able to tackle him to the ground since he's bigger than me.

"Not cool, Lauren! I was eating that popcorn!"

Smirking at him, I chuckle at his reaction. "Not anymore." I look at the other guys and see they're all staring at me in varying levels of shock. "What, I did warn him."

"I've never seen a girl tackle Carlos before," Kendall says in surprise. "Nice!" He holds out his hand and we fist bump.

I stand up and hold a hand out to Carlos to help him up and he takes it, showing that there's no hard feelings about the situation. "Yeah, nice job! I wasn't expecting you to tackle me like that!"

We're both laughing as I sit back down on the couch. I grab the remote from the table and start flipping through the channels as James leans over and whispers to me. "Remind me to never get on the bad side of you in a fight."

I glance over at him and wink before returning my attention to the TV and stop on New Town High. "Oh I love this show! It's too bad that Rachel had to leave because I wanted her and Drake to be together so badly."

Logan, Carlos, and James all look at Kendall concerned who just raises his eyebrows at them. "Guys, I'm fine! That was five months ago!"

I look around at them all in confusion about why they were so concerned about Kendall. "What happened five months ago?"

Logan turns to me, ready to explain everything. "Kendall dated Jo Taylor, the actress who played Rachel, for several months. But then she got a movie deal and had to move to New Zealand for three years of filming."

"Oh that's rough," I turn to look at Kendall as I start feeling guilty about mentioning it because I know how terrible it can be when people bring up exes, especially if it didn't end the best way. "Sorry for unintentionally bringing her up."

He just shrugs his shoulders at me. "It's not that big of a deal. It was five months ago that she left and I've moved on."

"Oh, well I guess we still won't watch New Town High." I start changing channels again and get to MTV and have to stop as I get slapped on the arm by Carlos as we see a picture of the band.

"So are you ready to fall in love with Big Time Rush all over again?"

The guys all sit up and shout at the TV. "Yes!"

"Well get ready, because in three months BTR is dropping their second album, All Over Again. And we've got even bigger news: Rocque Records just announced today that BTR will be having a concert in two months to celebrate the release of their new album. Rumor has it that they'll be singing a few new songs, so you definitely want to make sure you buy tickets when they go on sale tomorrow."

I start to look at the guys but stop when I see a picture of me show up on the screen. "Also, the opening act is going to be Lauren Rocque. She's currently recording her first album at Rocque Records and is starring in the upcoming movie The Hunger Games. Word is that she has an amazing voice and you won't want to miss her perform with Big Time Rush."

I start smiling really big and look at the guys. "I can't wait for this concert!"

Carlos jumps up in excitement and starts shouting. "This is going to be our best concert yet!"

"It is pretty cool that Lauren is opening for us," Logan looks over and smiles at me.

"Well hopefully I am a fraction as good as you guys."

"Believe me, you will be," Kendall says before standing up. "Now, shall we go head over to Lucy's apartment now?"

We all give some form of agreement with him and slowly start heading towards the door, our bodies still hurting from dance rehearsal. I walk next to James and start thinking about who we're going to hang out with. "So do you think Camille is going to slap me again?"

As we're about to walk up the stairs, I look up at him and see that he's trying to hide a smile. "No, she won't be rehearsing for a role. She only slaps people when she is preparing to go to an audition."

He holds the door onto the third floor open for me and I smile at him before responding. "Okay, that's a good thing."

The rest of the guys are stopped in front of a door before we get there and Kendall knocks on the door. A couple seconds later, Lucy opens it and smiles at Kendall. "Hey, glad you guys could make it. Come on in," she says and steps aside so we can walk past her into the small apartment.

Camille is already in there sitting on the couch. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Not much," Logan responds as he sits really close to her and I raise an eyebrow at this as I look at James and he just shrugs, clearly not knowing any more than I do about what's going on with the two. Logan gestures to me, "I'm not sure if you two have met, but this is Lauren."

"Hi, nice to meet you," I say and she smiles at me as I walk over to the couch. James and Carlos both squeeze next to me and Lucy and Kendall sit on the arm chairs next to the couch.

Lucy smiles at us mischievously, "So we're going to play a little game."

"Oh no, this won't be good," Kendall says quietly and I catch Lucy wink at him and try to see if anyone else noticed it but they all seem to be looking at Kendall.

"We're just going to play a simple game of truth or dare," Lucy says innocently. "Unless you're too scared to play."

"Come on guys, this won't be that bad," I say and instantly regret it when I see the look Lucy gives me. Maybe Kendall was right about this being a bad idea.

"Then you can start Lauren. Truth or dare?"

I contemplate the options briefly as I try to decide which one is worse and come to the conclusion that I have no idea what she might pick for a dare. "Truth."

"Okay," she says and taps her lips as she thinks for a few seconds. "So of the four guys sitting here, how many of them have you kissed?"

I can see that she is trying to intimidate me. "Two," I say confidently and smirk at him, catching on to the game she is playing.

"What?" Logan, James, and Kendall all shout at me. The only one who doesn't say anything is Carlos since he already knows about everything.

"Who did you kiss?" Logan asks me in disbelief, clearly confused about it since out of the three, he is the only one who has no idea about me kissing any of them.

"I don't have to tell you anything," I respond and smirk at them. They stare at me expectantly, hoping that I will tell them who but I don't say anything else.

"Well that's interesting," Camille finally speaks up after a minute of the guys waiting for me to go into more detail. "Why don't you ask someone else now?"

"Sure." I look around at everyone before finally deciding who to pick. "Okay Carlos. Truth or dare?"

"I'm going with dare since last time I picked truth, everyone got mad at me."

I think of something for a minute and start chuckling when I come up with something. "Okay I dare you to wear a dress and run through the Palmwoods Park and back."

Carlos' face drops at this and it almost seems like he gets a bit pale. "No way am I doing that."

"You have to, man, according to the 'Truth of Dare' code." Kendall pats him on the knee and Carlos slaps his helmet before standing up.

"Fine, get me a dress," he says with a determined look on his face. "The sooner I can get this dare done, the better."

Lucy drags him to her room and after a minute she walks back out. "This should be real funny."

"Yeah it will," I agree as I get my phone out to take a picture of Carlos.

A minute later he walks out in a short black dress with a deep neckline. He grimaces as he tries to pull the bottom of the skirt down and I can't help but laugh as I take a picture of him. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"I can," I say before giving him a push towards the door. "Now let's go, one lap around the Palmwoods park."

Carlos runs out the door and I close it behind him before turning back to everyone else. "This is too funny." Everyone nods in agreement and I sit back down, waiting for Carlos to get back.

* * *

"Guys, you can go ahead. I'm going to walk Lauren back to her apartment," James says as we leave Lucy's apartment after two hours of hanging out with her and Camille.

"Alright, see you in a little bit," Logan says as him and the guys head towards the elevator.

James and I head to the stairs since my floor is only one floor down. The door closes behind us and as we start slowly walking down, James pauses a couple stairs below me so that we're at eye level. "So earlier you said you had kissed two of us."

"Yeah I did," I respond and move around him to continue walking down the stairs so I didn't have to make eye contact with him. This was a conversation that I really didn't feel like having with him. "What about it?"

I'm almost to the door to my floor but James runs down the stairs and puts his hand on the door knob, preventing me from continuing. "Who else?"

I sigh as I look up at him and see that this is actually upsetting him. "Does it really matter?"

James just nods his head at me.

As I stare up at him, I can't help but feel guilty about kissing Kendall even though there is no obligation for me to not kiss anyone but James. "Fine, it was Kendall. Happy now?" I easily push him aside as he stands there in surprise and walk out onto my floor.

James starts walking after me. "When? And why him?"

When I get to my apartment door, I turn around to look at him, starting to get annoyed at him wanting to know so much about this. "James, why do you even care so much?"

"Because I do," he responds and he crosses his arms. "Are you going to answer my questions?"

I lean against my door and also cross my arms. "You are so stubborn, Diamond. If you really want to know, it was the other day when we went to the guitar store. He kissed me then and then later as he left my apartment."

"Oh," he says and I can see his face drop in disappointment. "Well, did you kiss him back?"

"No, because I don't like him like that." I pause as I get my key out. "Now if you're done with your interrogation, I would like to go in now because I'm tired."

James starts smiling at me and I can't keep tracking of all of his mood changes. "Of course," he leans in and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek before walking away. "See you tomorrow," he shouts over his shoulder at me.

I open my door and walk into my apartment completely confused about that entire encounter with James. As I close my door and lean against it, I hold my hand on the cheek that James kissed and part of me can't help but hope that maybe, just maybe, he feels the same way about me. My heart is still racing and I can feel my cheeks warm from the attention from him.

I'm falling for James. And I'm falling hard.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello and welcome back to the story! I hope you've been enjoying the story so far and how my writing has improved compared to the original. This chapter has a lot of interesting stuff happening between James and Lauren so enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6:**

I sigh as I sit down on my couch, disgruntled about what to do today. A quick glance outside shows that it's still pouring so I can't go down to the pool. And I can't hang out with the guys either because they're at the studio. Which is where I should be, but Kelly told me not to come in today since my uncle can't figure out my last song for the demo. And it's always best to avoid my uncle on these days since he gets so angry when he can't figure out a song.

I check the time on my phone and groan when I see that it's not even 1:30 since the guys won't be back until at least 6. I lean my head back and stare up at the ceiling, trying to think of anything to do.

Finally, I look back at my phone still in my hand and realize that I should send out texts to invite people to our upcoming birthday party on the 16th. Once the texts are sent out to all of my important friends that I want to invite, I start putting my phone away before realizing that I need to call my best friend to tell her about everything that's been going on.

I dial the number and wait as it rings. "Aloha! Rachel Anderson speaking from paradise!"

"Rachel, it's Lauren," I say as I chuckle at the way she answered the phone. She always liked to do this when she was on vacation or traveling for her modeling career.

"Oh my god, I haven't talked to you in forever! What's up, girl?"

I smile as I put my feet up on the coffee table in front of me. "Not much, I've been busy recording with my uncle. But right now I'm bored out of my mind because it's raining and I have nothing to do."

"Aww, bummer!" I hear her shout to someone, "David, can you get me another drink? Just something fruity." There's a pause before she returns to me. "Sorry about that. How can you be on a tropical beach and not have something to drink? So how's life? Tell me all about what's been going on since you've gotten back to LA."

"Well you know that I'm recording at Rocque Records right now with my uncle. We've almost finished recording my demo and I'm going to be opening for one of his other projects at a concert in a few weeks."

"No way, you already have music recorded that people are going to be able to buy soon?"

I laugh at her reaction. "Yes, I have my own music. And they can't buy it yet, but I think we might sell cds at the concert."

"Well I'll obviously buy one right away," she pauses and I can hear ice hitting a glass. "So, who's the group you're opening for? And are there any cute guys?"

"You know about the group Big Time Rush, right? Well it's them and I've actually have become very good friends with them since I moved into the Palmwoods."

"Remind me again of what they look like?"

I stand up and start pacing around my apartment, thinking about how to describe the guys. "Kendall is tall, blond, and eyebrows. Logan is kind of the science nerd, but he does have some swag. Carlos is a giant bundle of energy but a huge sweetheart. And then James, well, he's considered the pretty one of the band."

"Are they cute?"

"Yes, they're cute," I pause and glance over at the cardboard cut-out I have of them. "Very cute."

Rachel just laughs at me. "Which one do you like?"

"Wh-what makes you think I like one of them? Just because they're cute guys doesn't mean that I have a crush on one of them."

"Lauren, you're stuttering. You so like one of them." By the tone of her voice, she knows that she's right and I almost hate the fact that she knows me so well.

"Whatever, I didn't call you to talk about boys," I say and try to get off of the topic of boys because I don't want to discuss everything that has happened over the phone. "I called you because I'm having a birthday party on the 16th of next month."

"I will so be there! I get back from Honolulu in two weeks, so maybe I can just stay with you for a few weeks? Please?" I can hear the smile in her voice as she gets excited about the idea of staying with me.

"So let me get this straight. You want to put up with living with me for several weeks, in the Palmwoods. Which is not a five star hotel like you're used to."

"Yes, Lauren! It'll be so much fun and like we're just having a big sleepover like when we were younger!"

I laugh at her, already having thought about that. "Okay, sounds like a plan. You'll be good to get some alcohol for the party?"

She scoffs at this. "Did you really need to ask me? As soon as you said you were having a party I already started planning on getting some."

"Okay good. Now I'll let you get back to your vacation and I can't wait for you to be here!"

"Byeeee, Lauren! See you soon!"

I move the phone away from my ear to hang up and hear here shout at me, "And I'm going to find out who you have a crush on!"

As I hang up the phone, I can't help but laugh. Surely she'll stop at nothing until she figures out that I like James. I'll obviously tell her but I'll have some fun letting her figure it out once she's here. I put my phone away as I walk in my room, smiling at the thought of seeing my best friend soon. I quickly grab my guitar from next to my bed and go back to the couch.

As I sit on the couch, I gently take out my guitar and lean back, playing some random chords as I stare up at the ceiling. I sit there for a while, thinking about everything going on with James. I don't know how this boy has had such an effect on me. His smile always makes me have butterflies in my stomach and I'm always blushing around him. It's almost embarrassing how much he affects me. And then there was that kiss we had that one day and I know I saw sparks fly.

I stare out the window as my mind wanders, making up fantasies about me and James that I know I shouldn't want because he's such a bad idea, yet I still want him for myself. I start thinking about how it would be to have him show up and start kissing me in the pouring rain and forget about everything else but the sparks flying from kissing him. And that's when the lyrics start coming to me.

I frantically set my guitar down and get up from the couch and run into my room, searching for my journal to start writing down the lyrics before I forget them. I open up several drawers and push everything aside, but it's nowhere to be found. I look around my room, trying to figure out where I put it when my eyes land on the one box sitting in the corner and I realize I never unpacked it. Opening it, I start throwing the not fragile stuff over my shoulder and sure enough, my journal is sitting at the bottom.

I grab it and walk out of my room, grabbing a pen from my desk as I leave. Once I'm sitting down, I pick up my guitar and start writing down the lyrics that just come right into my head as I think about James and the sparks that I felt when he kissed me.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Kelly asks me in confusion as I run into the studio, clutching my guitar and holding my journal to my chest.

"Yeah, L-dog, I don't have a song for you and you being here is distracting me from my song writing process!" Gustavo yells at me and I can see the panicked look on Kelly's face.

"That's why I'm here!" I shout in excitement as I start flipping through my journal to the page with my song lyrics. I hand it to my uncle and step back. "I have the fourth song."

I'm anxious as I watch him read my song, Kelly reading it over his shoulder. He makes a variety of facial expressions as he looks it over and it starts stressing me out before he finally looks up at me. "Well, what do you think?"

My uncle just stares at me for a few seconds as I anxiously wait for his answer. "Just get in the booth and let me here you sing it."

I start smiling as I grab my journal from him and run into the booth. I set the journal on the stand and grab my guitar from the case. Once I'm ready, I just look at my uncle and he just gives me a nod to start.

I take a deep breath before I starting playing my guitar, feeling very anxious about performing this song since I wrote it. "The way you move is like a full on rain storm, and I'm a house of cards."

I glance back up and Gustavo and Kelly and my uncle is simply staring at me but Kelly gives me a thumbs up to continue. I turn back to the lyrics and start smiling as I continue playing through the song. As I sing it, I can't help but feel so many emotions as I think about all of the feelings towards James that inspired me to write this song.

Once I've finished, I look at my uncle. "Well, what do you think?"

He just stares at me for a minute, deep in thought. Kelly, meanwhile, is smiling at me and clearly likes the song. Gustavo finally leans forwards and presses the button to talk to me. "That," he says and pauses, "was actually pretty good. It just needs some background stuff added to it which I am amazing at doing."

I start smiling at him and all of my anxiety starts to fade away. "So is this going to be my next song?"

He slowly starts smiling and I know he must really like the song because he rarely smiles. "We have our fourth song!"

I cheer a bit and I can see Kelly start dancing in excitement.

"Okay that's enough cheering! Lauren, I need you to sing the song a couple more times so I can record it."

I get ready to sing it again and can't help but smile at the excitement of having written my own song. Once I get a nod from him to start, I play through the song again and I know that my emotions can be heard when I'm singing. After I record the song a few more times, I finally leave the booth.

"Great job Lauren," Kelly says and pats me on the back. "I can tell now that the song is going to be a huge hit!"

I smile at her as I put my guitar in its case and tuck my journal in the case before I sit down on the couch. "You think so?"

"Of course it will be, I'm producing it," Gustavo says before Kelly can answer. "And that brings me to my next thought. At the concert, do you want to play guitar during it or do you want to come up with a dance for it?"

I think about it for a second but it doesn't take very long for me to decide. "You know, this song is more about the feelings you have towards someone, not dancing, so I think I'll play guitar with it."

"Good choice," he says and turns around in his chair to face the control panel. "Now, I'm going to work on finishing this song. You can either go back to the Palmwoods or go dance with Mr. X. I know he needs another girl to dance with the dogs for Music Sounds Better With U. Maybe you could fill that spot."

I stand up and pick up my guitar. "Alright, bye guys." I head out of the room and make my way to the dance studio. As I get close, I can hear Mr. X shouting on the phone at someone. Walking in, I see the guys sitting in the center and Mr. X pacing back and forth.

I set my case down and walk over to the guys who are all looking at me confused. "What's going on?"

"He can't find another dancer to work with us for the concert," Logan replies.

"But why are you here?" Carlos ask in confusion as I sit down next to them. "I thought you had the day off since Gustavo couldn't figure out your next song."

"I did have the day off, but while I was bored at home I ended up writing a song. So I came here and my uncle surprisingly liked it so now he's working on finishing it."

I hear sobbing and look over to see Mr. X now leaning against the wall crying. "Hang on a sec, guys." I jump up and walk over to him and he looks up at me approaching. "My uncle said that I could be one of the dancers."

His face lights up when he hears that and he jumps up from leaning against the wall. "Really?" He turns to the guys and claps his hands. "Alright, up, up! We have our fourth dancer!"

The guys all scramble to get up and stand in a line in front of Mr. X who starts pacing. "Now, this dance is a partner dance. So who wants to be partners with Lauren?"

They all start fighting and pushing each other. "I'm going to be with Lauren!" Carlos shouts.

"No you won't!" Logan shouts back at him. "You suck at dancing!"

"I want to dance with Lauren!" Kendall then yells as he tackles Carlos.

James starts slapping Logan. "Well I'm the best dancer so she's dancing with me!"

"Guys, stop!" I finally shout at them and they all freeze, Carlos and Kendall on the floor, and James and Logan with their arms twisted together from trying to slap each other. "Don't I get any say in this?"

"Of course you do," Mr. X responds and doesn't acknowledge the guys fighting. "But first, let me bring the other girls in. Ladies!"

He claps his hands and the guys all immediately jump up and try to look cool as three girls walk into the studio. Mr. X walks over to the three of them and starts introducing them to the guys. "This is Caitlin," he says about the girl with short, wavy auburn hair. He moves to stand next to the next girl, who has long, straight black hair. "This is Stephanie" She waves at the guys as Mr. X moves to the last girl with a brown pixie cut. "And this is Emma."

Carlos is standing there with his jaw dropped before he collects himself and turns to the guys. "Okay you guys can dance with Lauren," he says before running over to Caitlin. "Hi, I'm Carlos," he says and she smiles at him.

Logan steps away from Kendall and James and points his hands at them. "Alright I'm gonna pass on Lauren. Have fun fighting over her." He then walks over to Emma and kisses her hand. "Hello there."

When James and Kendall don't run over to Stephanie, I look at them. "Well, I guess I'll pick out of you two." I glance back and forth at them, James is pointing at his chest and smiling, while Kendall smiles and lightly nods his head towards James, telling me to pick him since he knows how I feel about him. "Alright, let's go James."

"Yes!" He cheers before moving to stand next to me while Kendall walks over to Stephanie. James and I walk over to stand next to the other pairs before Mr. X starts pacing in front of all of us.

"So this song is all about that special someone who makes everything better. You need to show that through your dancing. I like to think of this dance as a modern day tango." He claps his hands and a woman walks in and smiles at all of us. "This is my assistant Karen. We'll demonstrate the dances and then you'll repeat what we do."

We spread out in the studio and as I look over to my right and see James standing there, I start to realize what I agreed to do. I'll have to be very close to him while dancing and I know I'll probably embarrass myself because of the way he affects me. As I smile back at him, I can feel myself blushing and quickly look away from him.

"Now girls, you will watch Karen, boys will watch me." They go through the first part of the dance for chorus and I start blushing even more as I think about having to do the dance with James. "Now repeat!"

He plays the music and all of us start dancing. I'm constantly blushing over dancing with James, especially when he has to run his hand up the side of my leg. Of course Carlos and Logan keep messing up so we have to repeat the dance many times before Mr. X is satisfied with our dancing.

"Alright, now that we finally have the chorus, I need James and Lauren so we can work on the beginning of the song." Everyone else moves to the side of the room to watch us. "So we will start with Lauren walking out behind James and dragging her hand across your back until she gets to the side. Then James, you'll grab her hand but after a line or two, I want Lauren to let go and start walking away, almost like you're teasing him. But you need to look back and smile at him so it is very flirtatious. James will then come up behind Lauren, put your arms around her waist, and sing over her shoulder. And James, I want you to be singing to Lauren the whole time. Let's try it!"

Mr. X starts playing and I take a deep breath before I walk up to James and slide my hand across his back. I bit my lip as I can feel the muscles on his back before I get to his side and James smiles at me before he grabs my hand. When he starts singing to me, I can't help but feel my heart beat faster. "I try to write this down, the words just don't come out," I let go of his hand and start walking away from him but glance back at him over my shoulder and smirk at him, deciding to play up the flirting because I can always say I did it for the song if he asks about it. "It's hard to say how you feel."

James chases after me as he sings. "Been down the longest road," he reaches me at this point and tightly wraps his arms around me. I place my hands on his arms over his toned muscles and lean back against him. "Said yes when I meant no," I turn my head to look at him as he sings to me and realizes how close he is to my face and start wishing he would close the distance between our lips. "I lost control of the wheel…"

He stops singing and we stand there for a second, still holding on to each other. I'm aware of every place his body is touching mine and my body heats up as I want to kiss him so badly and be wrapped up in his arms all night. I stare into his eyes and quickly lose track of everything else as he stares at me and he looks down at my lips, starting to lean in.

But everyone starts clapping and we step apart, our moment getting shattered as we remember that we aren't alone. I know my face must be so red as I bite my bottom lip and awkwardly rub the back of my neck. I look over at James out of the corner of my eye and he winks at me when he sees that I'm looking. I quickly turn away and try to think of anything else but James standing close to me as my heart races over that entire dance. I make eye contact with Carlos and he is just sitting against the wall with his arms crossed and smirking at me. From his reaction, I know it was obvious that we almost kissed.

I'm thankful when Mr. X starts walking over to us. "Great job, it truly looked like you got the flirtatious feel to it." He pauses to look at everyone else. "After that, the other girls will come on and you'll do that dance I taught you earlier. No, Kendall, let's work on your part next with Stephanie."

As we walk over to the wall to sit against it, Kendall and Stephanie move to the center of the room. I sit down next to Carlos with James on my other side and shakily start drinking water to try to clear my head.

One the music is playing, Carlos leans over to whisper to me. "Wow, that dancing was intense. I thought for sure you guys were going to kiss there."

I watch Kendall dancing for a couple seconds before I respond to him. "So did I."

I look over at Carlos then and he has a goofy grin on his face. "It's so obvious that you two like each other!"

I shush him and turn to look over at James but luckily he hasn't heard any of our conversation as he talks to Logan and Emma. Turning back to Carlos, I raise an eyebrow at him. "And I really doubt he likes me."

Carlos just rolls his eyes at me as Caitlin leans over him to whisper to me, "Are you two dating?" I almost start choking on the water I was taking a sip of before I shake my head no. "Oh, well from the way you were flirting, it really looked like you are."

When she turns to look back at Kendall and Stephanie dancing, I lean back and rest against the wall, trying to get my emotions collected. I'm aware of how close James is next to me and try not to get flustered about it.

Mr. X then stops the music and looks at us. "Okay let's run the dance from the top!" At this, the guys move to the center of the studio and myself and the other girls move to either side of the room. I take a deep breath before the music starts, trying to prepare myself for this dance again. As the music starts, I walk over to James and he's smiling at me. I try keeping my distance more than last time and I can tell that James is not being as flirty as last time. When our part is done without any moments like last time, I can't help but sigh in relief because I've already embarrassed myself enough today. Once we get through the first chorus and move to the back for Kendall's part, I start to relax and start smiling about dancing with James now that we are past the point that almost resulted in us kissing before.

When we finish the song, the guys pull us towards them and hold us. I smile up at James, breathing hard from dancing and as he smiles back at me, I can't help but laugh a little at how exhilarating the whole dance is. Mr. X starts clapping, "Excellent job, everyone! We're done with that dance for today, we'll run it again a few more times before the show. Ladies, thank you very much for joining us. Boys, you can take a half hour break before we go over the dances to your other songs."

James puts his arm around my shoulders as we start walking out behind everyone else. "Well that was a fun dance. And you really are a fantastic dancer."

I look up at him and almost roll my eyes at him when I realize that he's trying to see if I bring up the moment where we almost kissed. So I just smile at him and wrap my arm around him. "Well you're not too bad of a dancer yourself."

As we walk in the break room, we let go of each other as the guys are saying goodbye to the other girls. Once the girls leave, the turn towards us.

"So, what shall we do for our break?" Kendall asks all of us.

I walk over to the couch and lay down. "I don't know what you guys are going to do, but I'm just going to stay here because I'm tired."

James moves to the couch and picks up my feet and sits down where they were before setting them down on his lap. "Why are you tired? You haven't been dancing since 11 like us."

"I don't know, I just am." I look around at them as the other guys sit down in the chairs around us. "So are you guys going to be done soon?"

Logan glances at the clock hanging on the wall. "Well it's a little after 4:30 so we should be done in about an hour after our break."

"Good, because I've been so bored today before I got here."

Kendall looks over at me. "So what did you do earlier?"

"Well first I invited some people to our birthday party next month. Then I talked to my best friend Rachel for a while. And then I wrote my song and came here."

"Rachel who?" Carlos asks me.

"Rachel Anderson."

Logan spits out the drink he was taking a sip of and Carlos gasps. "Rachel Anderson, as in the super model?"

I laugh at Logan's response and can see that even Kendall and James are a bit interested in this. "Yeah we've been best friends for almost our whole lives. We met when we were two and our moms were acting in a movie together. And we've been best friends ever since."

"She's hot!" Carlos suddenly blurts and Kendall smacks him on the ribs.

This makes me burst out laughing. "I'll make sure to tell her that. Actually, you can just tell her yourself since she'll be staying with me for a few weeks once she gets back from Honolulu in two weeks."

"Well that's going to be interesting, having a super model at the Palmwoods," Kendall says and chuckles.

Carlos stands up and shouts, "I call dibs on her!"

The guys just look at him like he's crazy. Kendall raises his eyebrows at him. "Yeah I'm not going to fight him on this one."

James and Logan both agree on this and I laugh. Kendall then looks over at me. "So Lauren, what's your new song about?"

"Well it's called Sparks Fly," I say and feel my cheeks starts heating up as I think about the lyrics with James next to me.

"Do we get to hear it now?" James asks has he smiles at me.

I try not to sigh as his smile affects me since that's exactly what this song is about. "Um, nope. You have to wait until the concert to hear it!"

The guys groan and start to complain. "Sorry boys. But now, I'm going to head back to the Palmwoods."

I stand up and slowly start walking out of the room and the guys are all frowning at me getting to leave while they still have an hour left of work. I'm almost out the door when James speaks up and I turn around to look at him. "Hey wait, Lauren, I'll walk you out to your car."

Once he catches up with me, I pick up my guitar case from near the door and we head out towards the elevator. I look over at him as we're walking and can't help but smile at how attractive he is, especially with his hair pushed to the side from dancing. As we wait for the elevator, I decide to see if I can get him to say anything about us almost kissing today. "So dancing was pretty intense."

"Yeah it was," he smiles at me as we step onto the elevator and he presses the button for the lobby. "I think it's a really great dance for that song."

"Why do you think that?"

James pauses to think for a couple seconds before answer as the doors open. "Well the song is all about that one person who can instantly make anything better when they're around. And that person can make you feel nervous and happy at the same time but its okay because they'll always be around."

As we reach the door, I pause and turn around to look at him. Everything in me just wants to tell him that he's that person for me. But instead, I just tell him, "Yeah, I know what you mean."

I sigh as I turn around to the door and start walking out. "I'll see you back at the Palmwoods."

"Bye Lauren," James says to me before the door closes and I'm glad he can't see the look of disappointment on my face because I can't find the courage to say anything to him about how I feel.


	7. Chapter 7

**Welcome back to _Sparks Fly!_ If you're still reading this story, then lucky you because this chapter is completely new material. I really like how this chapter turned out because it's fun and something new. So with that being sad, enjoy this new chapter! **

* * *

**Chapter 7:**

"Alright Carlos, I need your help to come up with a plan," I say as I walk into the guys' apartment. Carlos is sitting on the couch playing video games and pauses the game to look over at me in excitement. "And possibly James and Logan's help too."

"Okay now I'm interested," he says as I sit down on the couch next to him. "What's the plan?"

"We're getting Kendall and Lucy to go on a date." I pause when I see him raise his eyebrows at me. "Come on, you can't tell me you haven't seen how flirty they are towards each other."

"Like you're a real good judge of when someone is flirting," he says sarcastically, obviously hinting at me and James and I smack him on the arm. "Ow, sorry! But you set yourself up for that!"

"I did not," I cross my arms at this. Ever since that dance rehearsal two weeks ago, Carlos would not stop talking about me and James and how obvious it is that we like each other. "But that's not what I came here to talk to you about."

"Okay, so you think Kendall and Lucy like each other. Why?"

I stand up and walk over to the window and see that they're both still down there by the pool. They're sitting at a table very close to each other and you can tell by the looks on their faces that they are being flirty with each other. "Just come here and look at them."

Carlos comes over and stands next to me and I watch his face as he looks down at them. I smile in satisfaction as I see him raise an eyebrow at the situation, clearly realizing what I said was true. After a minute he looks back over at me. "So what are we going to do?"

"Call the guys."

Carlos pulls out his phone and quickly sends texts to James and Logan. I see James by the pool check his phone and look up at the apartment and when he sees us, he quickly grabs his things and runs to the lobby. Only a minute passes before Logan and James both run into the apartment. Carlos and I turn towards them.

"So what's this emergency that Carlos mentioned?" Logan asks and you can tell that he's a little annoyed with Carlos.

I give him a look about saying it's an emergency before turning back towards the other two. "It isn't an emergency but we need to come up with a plan to get Kendall and Lucy to go on a date."

"I'm in," James says as he sits down on the couch.

"I've got the tree hats," Logan says as he raises his hand in excitement.

"No tree hats," I say as I cross my arms. "We just need a simple way to get Kendall to ask her out."

"Luckily I'm a genius," Logan says. "I've got this."

* * *

I'm shaking my head as I hide behind plants with the guys down by the pool. "This isn't going to work. And I still don't understand why we need the tree hats."

"Every good plan needs tree hats," Carlos tells me like I'm dumb. I roll my eyes as the other two agree with him.

"Fine, but I still don't think this plan is going to work." Logan had come up with what he claims is a brilliant idea to use fishing wire to get Lucy to trip and have Kendall catch her. I tried telling them that there was too many ways that this plan could go wrong but I was overruled by the three of them.

So now we're here, hiding by the pool and waiting for Kendall and Lucy to leave. When they finally get up, the guys get excited and crowd around James who is holding on to the rest of the fishing wire. I anxiously watch, waiting for this plan to go wrong. And sure enough, right as James is about to pull the wire to trip Lucy, someone calls Kendall's name to say hi and he turns to wave right as Lucy falls on the ground.

The rest of the guys all crouch down and hide and I just sit down and shake my head at them. They all look guilty as I cross my arms. "Did I not tell you this plan wouldn't work?"

"Okay that plan didn't work. But the tree hats are still cool," James finally admits.

"So now what?" Carlos asks me.

I look over at Logan. "You might still be useful. Can you call up Camille?"

He nods before pulling his phone out and calling her. The other two are looking at me confused as Logan talks on the phone. "Since your plan didn't work, I'm calling in female reinforcements because we can come up with a better plan."

Logan then hangs up the phone and looks up at me. "Camille is in her apartment and told us to meet her there."

"Then let's go." We peak over the bushes to make sure that Lucy and Kendall are gone before we run into the lobby and up the stairs to Camille's apartment. She's waiting for us at the door and quickly rushes us in.

"So what's this plan Logan was telling me about?"

The guys start talking but I hold up a hand to stop them. "You guys had your chance to get this to work and failed." I turn back to Camille and she's trying not to laugh at us. "We need to get Lucy and Kendall to go on a date."

"Oh that's easy. I'll just tell Lucy that she needs to come on a double date with me and we can convince her to go with Kendall."

Logan is standing there confused and almost offended. "Who are you going on a date with?"

She rolls her eyes at him. "You, you idiot."

"Oh," is all he says before smiling.

I chuckle lightly at the two before talking to Camille. "That seems like it should work. Should we go find her now?"

"Sure, she's probably in her apartment so let's go." We follow Camille out of her apartment and quickly make our way down a floor to Lucy's apartment. The guys and I hide around the corner while Camille goes up to Lucy's door and knocks.

"Do you really think this plan is going to work better than ours?" Carlos whispers and we shush him as Lucy opens the door. I grimace a little when I see her holding an ice pack to her head, knowing that was probably our fault.

Camille starts talking excitedly but Lucy doesn't seem too thrilled about the idea. "What are they saying?" James whispers and we all smack him to stop talking.

Finally, Lucy goes back in her apartment and Camille turns back around at us and shrugs. I look at the guys at the guys before walking over. "Let me deal with this."

Camille is frowning as I walk over to her. "She says it sounds like a fun idea," she says quietly since we're still near Lucy's door. "But also that I should take you and James with us instead."

I blush at this comment and look back at the guys who are waiting expectantly to find out what happened. I quickly turn away from looking at James and back at Camille. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Yes," she says and laughs. "Maybe instead of working on getting Kendall and Lucy on a date you should work on you and James." She pauses as she looks past me at the guys and laughs again. "It's so obvious he likes you. But anyways, sorry I couldn't have been more help with this, but I need to go prepare for an audition I have later."

"Thanks for helping." I turn back towards the guys and walk back to them. "So that didn't work. What's plan c?"

"Maybe we should just go to Kendall?" Carlos suggests and James and Logan agree with him.

"What are we going to me about?" Kendall says and we all scream as we turn around to look at him.

"Nothing," we all say and he squints his eyes at us.

"Then why are you wearing tree hats and hiding around the corner from Lucy's apartment?"

"Well why are you near Lucy's apartment?" Carlos counters and Kendall actually starts blushing.

"No reason at all," he tries to lie and fails miserable. We all stare at him until he cracks under the pressure. "Okay fine, I want to ask her on a date."

"Ha! I told you guys!" I yell and start dancing in excitement over being right.

"Um what's going on?" Kendall asks in confusion.

I start pushing them towards my apartment around the corner. "Let's go discuss this in my apartment before Lucy hears us."

We quickly get in my place and once the door is closed, I turn around to the guys. "So we've been trying to come up with a plan to get you and Lucy to go on a date."

Kendall just raises his eyebrows at this. "And why wasn't I part of this plan?"

"We figured you were both oblivious to the situation," James says and Carlos starts to laugh at him saying this but turns it into a cough when I glare at him.

"Well clearly I'm not!"

"So what are we going to do?" Logan asks and the guys all look at me.

I sigh as I shake my head. These guys are lucky to have me around to come up with cute plans. I think about how I would like someone to ask me out and start coming up with a romantic idea. "Alright I have an idea. Logan, I'm gonna need you to go get flowers, preferably roses. Carlos and James, I'm going to need you to come up with a good way to get Lucy down to the park and don't kidnap her." I pause before finally turning to Kendall. "And for you, I'm going to need you to get dressed up in a nice suit."

"And you think this is going to work?" Kendall asks me.

"Oh it will work. And I'll bring the tree hats."

* * *

Once I have Kendall in place under a tree with candles surrounding him and holding the roses Logan bought, I go and hide behind a bush with Logan and put on a tree hat. I have to say, these hats are definitely growing on me.

I pull out a walkie talkie to get in contact with the other two guys. "This is the Plan Master. Hockey Man is in place, I repeat, Hockey Man is in place."

"Got it. The Dangerous Duo is on their mission. Over," Carlos responds to me.

I give Kendall a thumbs up before crouching back down with Logan. "How come I don't get a cool codename?"

"Because your plan failed miserably."

"Fair enough," he agrees and shrugs. "This is why we usually have Kendall make the plans."

"Well this time I'm taking the credit for an amazing plan." I catch sight of James and Carlos walking this way with Lucy between them, each one having an arm hooked with one of hers. Once they're close enough to have her see Kendall, I give Logan a nudge. "Give them the signal."

Logan makes a bird noise and as soon as he does, James and Carlos give Lucy a push towards Kendall and then run away, making their way over to where we're hiding without Lucy seeing them. I hand them each a tree hat as Lucy walks towards Kendall. "Nice job getting her here."

"It was actually pretty easy," James shrugs. "We just told her we had a surprise for her in the park."

"Quiet guys," Carlos lightly slaps James as Lucy gets to Kendall.

We all try to hear what Kendall is saying to her as he hands her the flowers. After a minute passes without any visible reaction from Lucy as Kendall's talking, I'm starting to question if I was right about her feelings towards him. But then she leans up and kisses him and I can't help but cheer quietly with the other guys. I turn towards them smiling and hold out my hands for fist bumps. "What did I tell you boys, I knew this plan would work."

Logan peaks back over the bushes before looking back at us. "We should probably get out of here and leave them alone."

The rest of us agree with him and quietly walk away from where Kendall and Lucy are still kissing. It's not until we're at the lobby that we finally stop and resume talking. "Lauren that was brilliant!" Carlos shouts excitedly before grabbing my arm. "Can you do that to me so I can finally get a girlfriend?"

"Don't waste your time," Logan says and James nods his head in agreement. "We've tried everything before."

I can see Carlos getting mad at them. "I'm sure I could figure out something for you." I start laughing when he grabs on to me and hugs me tightly. "Carlos I'm not going to be able to do much for you if I pass out from not being able to breath."

He lets go of me then. "Sorry I can't help it when I get excited about things."

Logan just shakes his head at all of this. "Well I'm going to go play games in the crib. James are you coming with me?"

"Yeah of course." They start to walk towards the elevator and James pauses to turn and wave at us and he's smiling at me the whole time.

Once they're on the elevator, I turn to Carlos. "So now what? We could go hang out at my apartment." He nods his head and won't stop grinning at me as we start walking to the elevator and it finally starts to bother me when we step on. "What are you grinning about?"

"Oh nothing, just the way you and James look at each other," he says as he smirks at me.

Once the doors have closed, I turn to him and raise an eyebrow. "And what is so special about that?"

Carlos laughs as we walk onto my floor. He doesn't answer me until I've opened my apartment door and we've walked in. "You can't tell me that you haven't noticed the way he acts around you."

I lean against my door and cross my arms at him. "I notice a flirty guy being flirty with me, just like he is with every other girl."

"But you don't get it! I've seen him chase after so many girls over the years that I've known him and I've never seen him act this way like he does with you."

I sigh as I walk past him to sit down on the couch. I put my face in my hands and I feel the couch shift as Carlos sits next to me. "But you don't understand, I'm terrible at these kinds of things and with making a move. So usually I just wait for the guy to say something."

I pick my head up to look at him as I feel him put his arm around me and pull me close. "Honestly I'm not sure why he hasn't said anything yet," he says as I lean my head against his shoulder and sigh, happy to have a friend I can be this comfortable with. "Every time I try to bring you up, he finds some way to change the subject or runs away to go do something. It's so weird for him."

"He's never been that way before with a girl?"

"Nope. You, my friend, have managed to make the biggest ladies' man I know be shy around a girl. That's quite the accomplishment."

I laugh at this. "Should I be flattered about this?"

"I'm not sure," he says and I can feel him shrug his shoulders. "But honestly, you might have to make the first move here."

"That's not going to happen," I say as I snuggle up closer to him. "Besides, I have more important things to worry about. Rachel is going to be here tomorrow and then the concert is in three weeks."

"True. Although I am very excited to meet Rachel tomorrow."

I pick my head up to raise an eyebrow at him. "Don't get too flirty with my best friend."

He just laughs and nudges me. "Please, you heard the guys. I can't find a girlfriend."

"Well don't get your hopes up with Rachel. She has dated an Italian swimsuit model before."

"Then I don't stand a chance."

I laugh at this as I grab the remote and put my feet up on the coffee table. "Well at least she will make things interesting around here. And I know she's excited about going to our concert."

Carlos snatches the remote from me and starts going through the channels. "Well why wouldn't someone be excited about going to a concert? I know I can't wait to go."

"Me too. It's going to be really interesting performing for a crowd for the first time."

"You'll be fine," he reassures me. "But just promise me something."

"What?" I ask and look up at him.

"Just promise me that once the concert is over, you really will consider saying something to James. I see how both of you act towards each other and I just know you both have the same feelings."

I contemplate what he's asking me to do. Part of me is terrified at saying anything to James because of a deep fear of rejection. But another part of me is hopeful that Carlos is right and I want to believe he is because of all the moments I've had with James where I could feel the attraction between us. Finally, I make a decision and look at Carlos, seeing he's waiting for me expectantly. "Okay I promise I'll do something."


	8. Chapter 8

**So this chapter is huge. That is entirely my fault so my bad lol. But I had combined to chapters for this one and added to them so that's why this chapter is significantly longer than the others. Oh well, it's a fun one so enjoy.**

 **Chapter 8:**

A shrill scream comes from the entrance to the lobby and I look up from my phone when I hear my name yelled. Rachel is running towards me and she hugs me tightly. "I haven't seen you in so long! I've missed you!"

She steps back to smile at me before throwing her purse at Logan next to me. Then she snaps her fingers at the other guys who are standing around me in shock and I chuckle at their reaction to her. "Go grab my bags."

Carlos immediately moves to go grab her bags but I quickly grab his arm. "Guys, stop." I lean over to Logan and snatch Rachel's purse from his hands. "Give me that," I say before tossing the purse back to her. "Rachel, these people aren't here to carry your bags, they are my friends."

She takes a step back and pulls down her sunglasses to get a better look at all of them. "Damn, you guys are hot." Rachel then looks over at me. "Time to see if your descriptions of them were accurate."

She first walks up to Carlos who is grinning at her and so excited to be receiving attention from her. "Yeah you're Carlos."

He nods his head quickly before blurting out, "You're really pretty!"

Rachel just laughs and smiles at him. "Thanks hun, you're cute yourself."

I almost think Carlos is going to faint from all the attention from her as she moves to Kendall, but only has to look at him for a second. "Oh you're definitely Kendall."

Kendall stands there really confused and I can't help but laugh at this whole situation and how the guys were not prepared for Rachel's strong personality. "Um, yeah but how did you know?"

Rachel just shrugs at him. "Tall, blond, and eyebrows."

I burst out laughing at this and Rachel just winks at me. Man, I've missed having her around. Rachel looks over at Logan. "Yeah you're dressed like a nerd so you're Logan."

"I do not dress like a nerd!"

"Yeah you do," Kendall says to Logan and he crosses his arms, annoyed at everyone being right.

And finally, Rachel gets to James who is stand there with the dazzling James Diamond smile but she is unaffected by it. "And you're James."

"What, no description of me?"

She sighs as she crosses her arms at him. "Well you're the last person so I wouldn't need a description since you have to be James." He thinks about her logic and nods his head in agreement. "And if you really want to know, you were described as being the one everyone calls the pretty one in the band."

James just makes the face. "Well, that isn't a lie- Ow!" he yells as Logan smack him in the ribs. "Hey, what was that for?!"

Logan just gives him a look like he thinks James is stupid. "You were acting self-absorbed."

They start to bicker and Rachel just turns back to me laughing. "They're funny. I can see why you're friends with them. Now, can we go up to your place so I can drop off my stuff and get settled?"

"Yeah of course," I smile at her before turning back to the guys. "Would you guys mind helping me carry Rachel's stuff up?"

"No problem," Kendall says and as the guys agree with him, he goes over to the heaping pile of suitcases. He picks up the first bag and nearly drops it on his foot. "What do you have in here, bricks?"

"No, that's just my cosmetics."

I raise an eyebrow at her and she just shrugs her shoulders. "Hey, you never know what I might need while I'm here."

At this point, the other guys have all picked up a bag and I go over to get the last suitcase. "Alright, let's get this stuff up to my apartment."

We walk across the lobby as Rachel starts talking about her most recent vacation. "So the company paid for all of us to go down to Honolulu as a way to thank us for the hard work we've been putting in lately."

She pauses as we pile into the elevator and barely fit in with all of her suitcases. Kendall turns to look at us in the back. "What company?"

"Victoria's Secret," she says nonchalantly and I laugh at all of their reactions. Kendall just raises his eyebrows, Logan's mouth is hanging open, Carlos looks like he wants to marry her right now, and James just looks impressed. Rachel looks back at me as the doors open on my floor. "And now I'm just excited to stay with you."

"It is going to be pretty awesome," I respond as the guys walk out first, dragging their bags and we soon follow.

"So what are you two planning on doing today?" James asks as he turns around to look at us, but he ends up tripping on the bag that Logan is carrying in front of him and falls down.

I reach over and hold out a hand to help him up, which he takes right away. "Are you okay?"

He stands up and smiles at me, holding my hand for a couple seconds longer than necessary. "Yeah, I'm good now."

I blush as he turns away from me to keep walking and I hear Rachel giggling behind me. I turn around to look at her and just give her a look saying 'What?'

"I'll tell you later," she whispers to me as the guys stop in front of my room.

"Alright thanks so much for helping guys," I say as I make my way around the guys and luggage to unlock my door. "You can just leave all of the bags here and we'll bring them in."

"You sure?" Kendall asks as he leans his bag against the wall.

"Yeah we've got this," I say as I set the bag I'm carrying inside my apartment. Turning back to them, I smile, "I'll let you know what we're doing later, okay?"

"Sounds good," Carlos replies before turning to Rachel and grinning like a fool. "Bye Rachel."

Rachel just winks and blows him a kiss as she's walking into my apartment with a bag and if the guys weren't there to catch him, I'm pretty sure Carlos would have passed out and fallen on the floor. I laugh and wave bye to them as Kendall and James drag him to the elevator and Logan just shakes his head as he follows them. Once they're at the elevator, I turn to Rachel and put my hands on my hips. "Alright, help me get the bags in here and then spill about why you were giggling."

She quickly helps me take the remaining bags in and once we've finished, I close the door and lean against it, crossing my arms at her. She's too busy walking around the apartment to notice. "This is such a cute place."

I just shrug my shoulders at this. "It's alright. A little lonely though."

Rachel sits down on one of the stools at the counter and turns around to smile at me. "But not anymore because I'm here!"

With my arms still crossed, I walk over and sit at the stool next to her. "I am glad that you're going to be staying with me. Now tell me why you were laughing!" I say and lightly hit her arm. She's always been one to get off topic easily and I always have to bring her back to it.

"I just thought you and James were super cute and you two would totally be a cute couple." She pauses to shrug at this. "Now I'm really not sure if you like Kendall or James. Both of them are guys you would date. But then again, maybe you like one of the other two. They are all very cute guys."

I scoff at this and try to avoid the feelings I constantly have now towards James. "I don't like any of them."

Rachel just raises an eyebrow at me. "Lauren, do you really think you can lie to me at this point?"

"I'm not saying anything!" I jokingly say and start laughing.

"Fine, we'll have to do this the hard way with me guessing based on knowing you and what you've told me about them." She starts taping a finger on her lip as she starts thinking for a minute. "Well let's start with Carlos. He's super energetic, a lot like you, so I think you two are probably very good friends."

"True statement," I walk over to the couch and sit down as I think about how much Carlos has been there for me since I first moved in. He definitely has become my best guy friend and I feel comfortable telling him everything.

Rachel continues thinking as she moves over to the couch with me. "I don't think its Logan. He's way too geeky and I know you hate dating guys that are way smarter than you so he's out."

"Damn, you know me so well."

"So that leaves Kendall and James," she says quietly as she stares at a blank space on the wall. "I honestly could see you dating both of them. Kendall is that sweet guy that you love to fall for. But James is the sexy model type that you also love."

"So which one is it?" I ask her as she turns to look at me. I'm actually having fun watching her guess at which of the guys I have a crush on. And from the look on her face, she's actually struggling to decide between the two.

"I'm going to go with James, but only based on that little incident in the hallway a few minutes ago." She stares at me expectantly and I stare back, not giving her any hint that she's correct. "So am I right?"

I sigh before finally giving her an answer. "Yeah, you're right."

She cheers as she fist pumps the air. "Hell yeah, I totally know my best friend!"

I can't help but laugh at this. No matter how much time we spend apart from each other, whenever we're back together it's like no time has passed since we last saw each other. "Yes you do know me well. So what's the plan for today now that you're done interrogating me about which of the guys I have a crush on?"

"Well we need to get caught up on things since it feels like it has been forever since we last saw each other. And then later I was thinking maybe we can go out to the club. You can definitely bring your totally hot new friends with us too." She pauses to give me a small smile. "But for now, could you make us some food? I didn't get a chance to eat lunch earlier on my flight over."

"Yeah, yeah," I wave a hand at her as I stand up and head over to the kitchen. "Nutella sandwiches?"

"Yes please," she responds as she walks behind me. As I start grabbing the things to make the food, she sits down on one of the stools again. "I haven't had one of your sandwiches in forever."

As I start putting the Nutella on the bread, I glance up at her. "So any new modeling things lately?"

"Well I've got to do some fittings and stuff like that for the Victoria's Secret fashion show in a few weeks." She pauses and smiles at me as I hand her a plate with a sandwich. "Then I'm going to be on an upcoming episode of America's Next Top Model. Tyra invited me to help the girls with a photo shoot but that's basically it."

"Yeah, that's all," I sarcastically say as I chuckle at her being so casual about her jobs. "You know, modeling for one of the biggest fashion shows and being on a big show for future models, no big deal." Rachel just shrugs as I take a bit of my sandwich and shake my head at her. "I still don't understand how you can go in front of millions of people in only a bra and underwear."

"You get used to it. After a couple years of it, it really doesn't faze me anymore. The only things that's a pain about it is keeping in shape." She takes a large bite of her sandwich and waves it at me. "Like I totally shouldn't be eating this but it's so good!"

I just laugh at this. "Well you might want to go to the gym while you're here because you're going to be eating a lot of junk food."

"I'm taking you with me," she says and I roll my eyes at this. We eat our sandwiches in silence for a couple minutes before she speaks up again. "So how about you? How's the concert preparation going?"

"It's so much fun! At first, the dance rehearsals were terrible but now it's great. I really wish I had more songs that I get to perform because it is great." My phone then buzzes and I pull it out, thinking it's one of the guys but it's actually Kelly. I raise my eyebrows as I read the text before looking back at Rachel. "Well that timing is almost scary. Apparently my uncle has come up with a fifth song for me and I have to be at the studio first thing Monday morning."

"Oh sweet, that's awesome!" She finishes her sandwich and sighs as she leans against my counter. I can see her start smiling mischievously and I know whatever she says next is not going to be good. "So, have you made out with James yet?"

I choke on the piece of food I was eating and she starts slapping me on the back. Once my throat is clear, I give her a look saying that she's crazy. "No, I haven't."

"Really? Why not?" She's totally calm about this and I don't understand what is wrong with my best friend.

"Rachel!"

"Lauren!" She just says right back to me and now gives me a look saying that I'm the crazy one.

"I don't just make out with guys I want to date. I like to actually get to know them first," I'm shaking my head at her as I say this, but I know I've definitely thought about how nice it would be to kiss James again. As I start thinking about when we did kiss, I feel my cheeks starting to heat up and I try to collect myself before she notices my reaction.

Rachel just smiles knowingly at me and I realize she is aware of the inner turmoil I just had. "You haven't told him how you feel, have you?"

"No, I haven't. And it's going to stay that way until we're done with the concert." I give her a look when she won't stop smiling the way she does when she has a plan forming. "I'm serious, no telling him!"

I jump off my stool then and grab our plates before putting them in the dishwasher. Rachel just follows me, "Come on, Lauren! You two would be so cute together!"

I turn and look at her, my hands on my hips. "I'll tell him eventually. I've already promised Carlos that I'll think about saying something to James once the concert is over."

She gives me a sympathetic smile at this. "You really are scared to tell him, aren't you?"

"No," I say and look away, not trusting myself to not reveal the true answer. I'm petrified to tell him because I've never had a guy affect me so much and it scares me. I can feel her staring at me and I finally look back at her. "Fine, I'm terrified."

Rachel just pulls me into a hug. "Sweetie, it's okay. We've all get nervous about these things." She pulls away and hooks her arm with mine and leads me over to the couch. She sits us down, "Okay, tell Dr. Rachel, relationship expert, what your problem is with telling him how you feel."

I'm shaking my head at her as I chuckle. "I don't know, he's just so different from guys I've wanted to date before." I pause and start smiling as I think about how I feel when he's around me. "Every time I'm with him, I get butterflies in my stomach. And then there's his smile. God, that smile is so perfect! Whenever he smiles at me, I swear I see sparks fly."

I hear her quietly 'aww' at this as I lean back on the couch and stare at the ceiling. "He's just so different from the other guys I've liked in the past. And the media is totally wrong about what he's like because he's actually a really sweet guy." I sit up suddenly and grab her hands. "How can one guy make me feel like this? I wrote a song about him, that's how much he makes me go crazy."

She puts a hand over her mouth. "That is too cute!" She suddenly stands up and pulls me up with the hand that is still holding one of mine. I'm getting lead over to my room by her. "Okay, tonight I've got a plan. We're going to the club and I'm going to get you all dressed up and then you're going to dance with James, okay?" Rachel pushes me into my bathroom at this point and slams the door behind me. "Take a shower and I'll get a hot outfit picked out for you!"

I sigh as I shake my head at Rachel. Whenever she gets her mind set on something, it's impossible to get her to change her plan. And she probably has this current plan all thought out and she's prepared for every possible scenario. I get in the shower, knowing if she doesn't hear water running soon there is a chance she will come in here and force me to get in the shower. I only take a few minutes to shower and when I walk back into my room, I see that Rachel has spread all of her cosmetics stuff over my floor and has an outfit laying on my bed for me. I just raise my eyebrows at it. "No way."

"Yes way," she responds right away as she looks up at me. "You need to look hot tonight so that James will want to dance with you. Now get dressed."

As she leaves my room, I walk over to the bed and take a closer look at the outfit picked out for me. I can't help but shake my head as I put the clothes on. Rachel managed to find the smallest black crop top that I have and it's strapless with lots of cleavage revealed. And she's paired it with sparkly silver leggings and red pumps. Once I'm dressed, I look in the mirror and I'm shocked with my appearance. "Rachel, there is no way I'm wearing this!"

Rachel walks back in at this with her hands on her hips. "Oh shut up, you look hot." I continue staring in the mirror as she comes up behind me and looks with me. "My plan is going to work. You're going to have all of the guys in the club wanting to dance with you, not just James."

I finally start to accept that the outfit is good for going clubbing and look at her in the mirror and raise an eyebrow. Her outfit is much tamer, being a sequin red tank top and white shorts. "How come your outfit isn't as drastic as mine?"

"Because I'm not trying to get a boyfriend." She pauses and smirks at me. "Well, I wouldn't be opposed to some making out with Logan or Carlos. But enough about me," she grabs my arm and drags me back into the bathroom. "Now let me do your hair and makeup while you let the guys know what's going on."

"I would watch it with those two. You really shouldn't lead them on with your flirting." She just waves her hand at me, brushing off my comment and I just hope she doesn't do anything with them. I sigh as I pull out my phone and sit down at the chair that I put in my bathroom. As Rachel gets her curling iron plugged in, I send a text to Kendall. _Okay so Rachel has decided that we're going to a club tonight. You guys in?_

As I wait for a response, I watch Rachel curl my hair in the bathroom mirror. She's so focused on her task that she's relatively quiet for the first time today. Even the buzz of my phone doesn't distract her. _Yeah we're all down. What time?_ I look over at Rachel after reading the text from Kendall. "When are we leaving? And how exactly are we all getting there?"

She's not even fazed by me talking as she continues her work. "I say we try to leave around 8:30, that gives us a couple hours to finish getting ready and we can get to the club not too early and not too late. And I'll get my limo to drive us."

"Got it," I turn back to my phone as she continues with my hair. _Be ready by 8:30. And Rachel has the ride situation covered._ Once the text is sent, I look at her. "Well the guys know the plan."

"Good," she says as she grabs another section of hair, nearly done at this point. "So I have another plan for tonight. So I'm sure some guy will ask you to dance. You agree, it will get James jealous, and then he'll ask you to dance!"

I raise my eyebrows at this. "You really think that will work?"

"I'm about 95% sure it'll work." She sets down the curling iron and goes crazy with hairspray. "Okay your hair is done and it looks great. You're welcome."

"Thanks Rachel," I say as I test some of the curls. I really do love how my hair looks curled but it's usually too much time and effort for me to bother doing it regularly. I look over at her then and realize that she's been spending so much time worrying about me and hasn't really spend time getting herself ready. "But what about you?"

She runs a hand through her long black hair and shrugs. "Eh, I'll probably just straighten it. But don't worry about me, you're the one with a guy to impress. Now hang on a minute." She quickly walks out of the bathroom and I turn around in my chair to watch her pick things up from the floor. A minute later, she walks back in with her arms full off makeup and she dumps the stuff on the counter. "Now, let's get your makeup done."

I sit back and relax with my eyes closed as she starts putting my makeup on. It actually feels pretty nice to have someone pamper me and take care of everything for me. I listen to her instructions to open my eyes and close them when necessary but other than that, she stays quiet and I'm fine with it. After so many years of being friends, we can be comfortable with sitting in silence around each other. "Okay, I think you're done."

I open my eyes and as I look in the mirror, I can't help but smile at her work. She's given me a flawless smoky eye with dark red lipstick and I love how it brings out the green in my eyes. "Wow," is all I can say before standing up and hugging her. "Are you sure you don't want to be a makeup artist instead of a model?"

Rachel just laughs at this as she hugs me back. "Oh no, I couldn't do this all the time. I really can only do like three different looks." She takes a step back so she can look over her work. "But I succeeded in my mission to make you look sexy so now you're going to help me get ready."

"Of course," I say as she takes the seat I was in. I glance at my phone and see that it's already after 7:30. "Wow, how did it get to be so late?"

She's already applying foundation and has her straightener plugged in by time I look at her. "That's what happens when you're getting ready. Now can you please straighten my hair?"

I nod as I pick up the straightener and carefully run it over her already pretty straight hair, being cautious to not bump into her head as she's putting on her eye makeup. I'm amazed at how quickly she is able to put the makeup on herself because it seemed like it took a lot longer for her to put it on me. She's almost done as I finish straightening her hair.

As I unplug everything, she finishes and looks at us in the mirror. "Damn, we look hot."

I laugh and respond to her. "I mean, we always do but right now it's more than usual." I glance down at my phone and see that it's now 8:10. "Well shit, we only have twenty minutes before we're supposed to be meeting the guys."

"We're almost ready so don't worry, we'll be fine," Rachel shrugs as I run out of the bathroom and start running around my room, trying to get everything together that I might need for later. I shove my phone, some money, lipstick, and my key into a small purse and sling it over my shoulder. Rachel walks over and sprays perfume on me and I'm glad that I have her to help me get ready on time. I slip my shoes on and as I run around my room making sure I haven't forgotten anything, I almost trip several times.

I turn to Rachel as she is putting her heals on and she looks up at me. "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go!" She quickly walks out of my room and through my apartment. As I follow her, I can't help but be a little jealous at the way she effortlessly walks in heels and with such grace. She's tried teaching me before how to walk like a model but I've never been coordinated enough for it.

As we walk over to the elevator and get in, I can't help but start getting worried about this whole plan and seeing James. I try tugging up my shirt to cover more of my chest as the doors close, feeling like I'm revealing too much and James isn't going to think I look good. Rachel is raising an eyebrow as she watches me. "What if this plan doesn't work?"

"Then it doesn't work! Chill, Lauren, you're going to the club and you are going to have a fun time regardless of if you dance with James or not." She pulls my shirt back to where it was sitting before and adjusts my hair as the elevator slows to a halt. "Now let's go have a fun time. Just pretend it's one of our normal girls night out."

The doors open and Rachel confidently steps out first. I follow her and try to act like her as she loops her arm through mine. As we walk through the lobby, a couple guys sitting there stare at us and I can't help but giggle a bit at the attention. It's a great feeling knowing that you look good and having guys notice too. The guys are sitting on couches by the door and as we walk up to them, Kendall looks up at us and his eyes go wide at our appearance. "Hey guys, you all set and ready to go?" I ask and I have to hold in a laugh as the other guys look at us and have a similar reaction as Kendall did, but Carlos with his mouth open in surprise.

Eventually James clears his throat and speaks for the guys. "Um, uh, yeah, we're all ready."

"Then let's get going!" Rachel says excitedly and leads us out the door, still dragging me along with her. Her limo is waiting for us out front and as the driver holds the door open for us, we all pile in and I end up sitting between Rachel and Carlos. James and Kendall sit across from us as Logan sits next to Rachel.

Once we're all in, the driver closes the door and walks around to the front. Rachel and Logan starting talking to each other and she's laughing about something as we start moving. Carlos leans over to start talking to me and I take my attention away from discretely looking at James to look at him. "I must say, this outfit you have on is quite… different from what you normally wear."

"Is it too much?" I say, still a little uncomfortable with the outfit, especially now that I've gotten reactions from the guys. "Rachel picked it out for me so I didn't really get to have a choice in wearing it."

"No, it looks great. And honestly, you look hot."

I laugh and lightly smack him on the arm. "Carlos!"

He's laughing with me. "What, I'm a guy. Any guy in their right mind would agree that you look really hot tonight." I notice him glance over at James briefly before turning his attention back to me. "In fact, it looks like James thinks so too."

"No way," I say and nudge him. But for the next few minutes as I join in the conversations going on around us, I keep watching James out of the corner of my eye and notice that he does keep glancing over at me often.

As the limo pulls up to the club, we get out and I sigh at the long line waiting outside. "Ugh, I hate waiting around to get inside."

"Don't worry, I got this," Rachel starts walking over to the front door and I can see glares from people waiting in lines as we pass by them. A few faces show some recognition as they see the group of us and I briefly wonder who it is that they recognize out of the six of us before we get to the front door. The bouncer looks at Rachel and steps aside to let the six of us walk by. Rachel smiles at him and once we're inside the club, she turns around to look at us. "One of the many benefits of being a famous supermodel."

I nod my head in agreement as I look around the already packed club. It's definitely nice to be able to skip the long lines but at the same time, I wouldn't want to be as famous as her and get recognized often. "Let's go get a table," I say and we begin to slowly make our way around the edge of the club and are lucky enough to find an open table. The guys pile into the booth and I end up on the end next to Rachel. I look over at Rachel across from me and have to lean over the table so she can hear me. "Are they going to card us?"

She shakes her head and yells to be heard over the music. "No, they don't care here. Plus they have a very strict rule against paparazzi. So boys, feel free to have anything to drink without worrying about what might happen!"

As the song changes, she suddenly stands up. "Hey Logan, let's go dance!"

Logan starts blushing and stuttering next to me. "Um, uh, okay." I move out of the way for him to get out of the booth before Rachel drags him out onto the dance floor.

I chuckle and shake my head as the two disappear into the crowd of people. "He is going to be so traumatized by her dancing."

At this point, a cute guy walks up to me. He has a surfer vibe and while that's not really my thing, he at least has that gorgeous Southern California look. "Hey, would you like to go dance?"

"Sure," I say and I smile at him as he holds a hand out to me. I take it and let him lead me out onto the dance floor, aware that this was exactly what Rachel had planned on happening. As we start dancing, our bodies moving together, I can't help but hope that Rachel continues to be right and this gets James jealous. I'm not very into the dancing, especially as the guy thinks it's okay to be running his hands all over me. But as soon as I can feel him get a boner from dancing, I know it's time to get rid of him and I'm thankful for the song soon ending.

I turn around to face him and give him my best flirty smile and even bat my eyelashes at him a bit. "I'm really thirsty. Do you think you can get me a drink?"

"Yeah, of course," he immediately says and hurries towards the bar.

I sigh as I start making my way back to our table, happy to be away from the guy for a bit. This plan better work because I do not have the patience to continue putting up with guys that are drunk and think I owe them anything. I make it back to the table and see James sitting there by himself, pouting as he takes a sip of his drink. He looks up at me as I slide into the booth next to me and half smiles as a way of acknowledging me. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," he grumbles to himself and takes another sip of his drink. He stares off at the people dancing as he continues pouting.

I cross my arms at him, knowing he is being stubborn and now I'm starting to get in a bad mood because of him. "Come on, James. Clearly something is wrong."

"I'm just bored, okay?" He finally exclaims and crosses his arms. "Everyone is out dancing with someone except for me."

We sit in silence for a minute and I stare out at the dance floor, trying to figure out how to cheer him up. "Well why don't you just go ask someone to dance?" I suggest, even though I don't like the idea of him dancing with someone other than me. I grab his drink to take a sip of it, causing him to frown even more. "You could easily fix this problem. And stop frowning so much, we're at a club and you should be having fun."

"I don't want to," he stubbornly says and leans back against the booth.

I just sigh at this and don't give the drink back to him. If he's going to be stubborn, I'm not letting him finish the drink. James is still frowning over me taking his drink but it turns into a scowl as the guy I was dancing with walks up to me, carrying to drinks. "Here you go."

I take it from him and set it down on the table, placing it close to James so that he can have it if he wants. I can see him perk up a little bit at this action out of my peripheral vision as I try to be flirty towards the guy. "Aww, thank you so much."

He stands there expectantly for a minute and I raise an eyebrow at him. "So do you want to go dance some more?"

I smile up at him, trying so hard not to let my annoyance on my face. I really need to stop letting Rachel talk me into going to bars with the intention of meeting guys because the guys I meet always seem to be terrible. "No."

He looks at me like I've offended his entire family before walking away and James starts laughing next to me. I can't help but smile as I notice his mood getting better. "Lauren, that was too funny."

I take a sip of the drink the guy brought over and shrug at him. "I suppose it was but that guy was annoying me. But hey, at least I got a free drink out of it."

James holds his hand out and I pass him the glass. "Well are you at least having fun?" he asks before taking a large sip.

"Aside from that guy being a bit of a buzzkill, yes," I take a few sips of the drink and hand the rest of it to James to finish, not wanting to get too drunk tonight. Being a lightweight did have its advantages when I was paying for drinks but for now, I could start feeling the alcohol already start to make my head a little fuzzy and I was not happy about it.

James tips the glass back to finish the drink as the song changes and I clap my hands in excitement as I recognize the song being Yeah by Usher. This is my absolute favorite song to dance to at clubs and I was not going to let James sit around. I stand up and pull James' hand, dragging him out of the booth with me. "Come on, we have to go dance!"

He's laughing as I pull him behind me in excitement onto the dance floor. We get surrounded by everyone and start dancing like crazy along with everyone else. This is just one of those songs that will get everyone out dancing and it's great. James and I dance and sing along to the song together and we're laughing for most of the song.

As we keep dancing for a few more songs, I can't help but smile over being able to get his mood to change. In the back of my mind, I think that maybe it's because of me that his mood changed, but the alcohol in me doesn't care about this for long and I just go along with his good mood and keep dancing. Eventually, he pulls me over to the bar to get another drink. We find an open stool and I sit down and he stands right behind me. After he orders two drinks for us, he puts an arm around my shoulders. "You know, I'm now having a great time."

"I completely agree," I respond as the bartender sets the drinks down and I take a sip of mine. As I look over at the dance floor, I realize that I have no idea what the others have been up to. "Hey have you seen everyone else lately?"

James shrugs next to me as he downs half of his drink already. "I saw Kendall and Carlos out on the dance floor. But I haven't seen Rachel or Logan recently."

I shake my head as I reach into my purse to pull out my phone. I start typing quickly and I'm glad that I haven't gotten drunk enough yet to get in the way of me being able to text. _Rachel you better tell me that you're not making out with Logan right now._

James raises his eyebrows at me as I wait for her response that comes in a minute. _Well I can tell you that we're not. But five minutes ago? Couldn't give you that answer._

I take a large swig of my drink before I reply to her, needing to be drunker to deal with this situation that she's going to make me deal with. _Just come over to the bar where James and I are._

 _Okie dokie, sexy_. That text makes me down the rest of my drink. James chuckles next to me and I look over at him. "What?"

"Oh nothing, I'm just guessing you didn't get the answer you wanted."

"I have no idea what would make you think that," I sarcastically reply as I see Rachel walking towards us, dragging Logan behind her. "She's definitely had a few drinks and it might be a good idea to head home soon."

As the two get over to us, I'm happy to feel the alcohol taking effect on me, especially when I see Logan has his arm around her. Rachel is just giggling and I look over at James, noticing that he's trying not to laugh at this whole situation. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"What's up is that you need to get home soon and sleep off this alcohol," I reply and she starts pouting at me right away. The look she is giving me makes me start thinking that maybe we can stay longer but that might just be the alcohol in me starting to cloud my decisions.

"Lauren, don't be such a party pooper! Just have some more drinks!" She waves over the bartender and he walks over as she shouts at him, "Four tequila shots!"

"Oh tequila shots are never good," I mumble to myself as James tightens his arm around me and chuckles.

The bartender pours out the four shots and Rachel hands one to each of us, somehow managing not to spill any despite being very drunk. "To a great night!" She shouts before drinking it.

I tip my head back and quickly down mine as James does the same next to me. I cringe a little at the burning feeling as I look over at Rachel and Logan. They look like they're having a great time and I start feeling bad about wanting to leave already. "You know what, we can stay for a few more songs!"

Rachel cheers at this and takes Logan back onto the dance floor. I lean back against James and sigh in contentment at his touch. "Okay Lauren, let's go get you some fresh air."

He keeps his arm around me as I hop off the stool and I stumble, only staying up because of his grip around me. As he moves me through the club, I'm dancing along to the music that's playing and he smiles at me, but refuses to stop and dance. "Dude, dance with me!"

James just shakes his head at me as we get to the front door and he holds the door open as I step outside. I lean my head back and close my eyes as I take in the fresh air. "It's such a nice night out!"

James smiles as he takes my hand and pulls me over towards the side of the building and leans against it. I lean up against him and wrap one of my arms around him. "James, are you having fun now?"

He looks down at me and is smiling. "Yes I am…" he trails off and the smile fades as we look at each other. My eyes keep going to his lips and wondering how nice it would be to kiss them. "I never told you earlier, but you look so damn beautiful tonight."

I look back at his eyes and notice that the distance between our faces has definitely gotten shorter. He puts a hand on my hip as he looks back and forth between my eyes and lips before quickly leaning in and closing the distance between us. I start kissing him back immediately and move my arms up around his neck, tugging on his hair and pulling him down closer to my height. His arms go around my waist and pull my hips against his, eliminating any space between us.

James turns us so that my back is against the wall and starts to kiss down my neck and I feel weak under his kisses. He comes back up to my mouth and we continue kissing, both of us not seeming to be close enough to each other as we run our hands over each other's bodies.

He pulls away, breathing heavy as he stares at me. I'm breathing heavy too as I see the desire in his eyes and feel his body still pressed close to mine. I want more of him and I reach up to kiss him again, only to be interrupted by Rachel shouting at us. "Hey, let's go! The limo is waiting for us."

I look over and see her standing with the rest of the guys and can't help but scowl at them interrupting us. But as I look back at James, my mood completely changes and I'm left with such a need for him as he steps back, keeping one arm around my waist and starts walking with me towards the others. My body is on fire everywhere that he is touching and my lips still linger with the feeling of his pressed against them.

When we reach the others, they walk with us the short distance to the limo and we all pile in. James keeps his tight grip on me and I rest my head on his shoulder as we start moving. I want to be touching more of him but don't make any moves with everyone so close around us. As I stare out the window, my head gets fuzzy with the alcohol and I close my eyes, wanting to nap for the ride home.

* * *

I wake up and squint my eyes against the harsh sun making its way into my room. As the sun blinds me, I start to notice the pounding in my head. I groan as I slowly sit up and rub my eyes, my head spinning as I try to steady myself. Once my head has stopped spinning, I move my hands and look around the room at the mess from getting ready. I try to recall what happened and can remember everything up until around when I discovered Rachel and Logan were making out. I start smiling briefly as I recall being on the dance floor with James and how much fun we were having. But I soon start frowning as a nagging feeling in the back of my head starts and I feel like there is something that I should be remembering from last night.

Instead of wasting time thinking about this, I swing my legs over the side of my bed and notice that I'm still in my clothes from last night. I stand up to go to the bathroom and have to pause for a minute as I hold onto my dresser, waiting for my dizziness to pass. I really need to not get drunk when I go out because I always end up with a hangover. Once the dizziness is gone, I slowly make my way into the bathroom and turn on the light, squinting as I look in the mirror. I'm a complete mess and should not have been allowed to sleep in my makeup because I now look like a raccoon.

I drink some water as I take off my makeup and try to tame my hair before giving up and putting it in a ponytail. After going to the bathroom, I head back out into my room and stumble on something and fall on my butt. "Oww…" I mumble as I look to see what I tripped over and realize its Rachel's suitcase. I push it away angrily as I look around the room and notice all of her stuff spread out over my floor. I start moving everything away from me as I sit on the floor, my anger being fueled by my hangover. "Stupid suitcase. And stupid makeup."

I stand up and the dizziness comes right back and I put a hand on my head. "Ugh, why must I have a stupid headache from all of that stupid alcohol that I drank!" I start kicking all of Rachel's stuff into one large pile in the corner of my room while complaining to myself about how everything is stupid right now.

Once I finally have everything in one pile, I head someone chuckle and I snap my head up towards the door, still angry about Rachel's stuff and ready to be angry at whoever is laughing at me. But when I see its James leaning against the doorframe with a smile on his face, my anger dissipates and I feel embarrassed that he witnessed my rage fit. "What's so stupid?"

As he walks in my room, I blush and rub my forehead, starting to feel the headache come back in full force as I feel self-conscious in front of him. "Um, nothing really. My hangover just made me go into a rage at the littlest things and this time, it happened to be Rachel's stuff on my floor." I sigh and scrunch my eyes in pain as my head keeps pounding. "And I have this stupid headache that is killing me right now."

"Well I can get rid of the headache part," James says from right next to me and I open my eyes to look up at him. His face is full of concern as he looks down at me and I feel my cheeks heating up at the attention he's giving me. "Well, I think I can fix that. How about some yummy breakfast?"

I smile up at him and nod my head, knowing that eating some food could definitely help my hangover. And the attention he's giving me is also making me happy because I so desperately want him to feel the same way about me. Something in his eyes hints at him knowing something that I don't, but I shrug this off and focus on breakfast. "Sounds good, but as long as I don't have to make anything."

"You don't have to worry about a thing," he replies as he loops his arm through mine and leads me out of my room. As we walk into the main area of the apartment, I can smell food cooking and my stomach starts to rumble. I see Kendall flip a pancake and as he looks up and smiles at us, I can't help but be happy that my hangover today was the type that could be cured with food and not make me sicker.

Carlos pauses from scrambling some eggs to look up at me. "Finally you're up!"

"Hey, I needed some sleep," I defend myself as I walk over and sit down at the counter. James stands next to me as Kendall laughs lightly at this. I glance over at the clock on the oven behind Carlos and start getting annoyed with him. "Dude, it's not even noon yet."

Carlos just laughs at me as he puts the eggs in a dish. "Like you needed more sleep! You were passed out as soon as we left the club."

"Yeah about that," I say as I start recalling getting in the limo but not actually getting up to my apartment. "What happened after I passed out?"

Kendall puts the pancakes he's been cooking on a plate before looking up at me. "Well, James carried you up her and put you in your room. And you woke up just long enough to hand us the key to get in." He chuckles briefly as he pauses to think about it. "It was kind of funny."

"Oh," I say and look down, feeling the blush creep onto my cheeks as I think about James carrying me all the way to my apartment. I try to distract myself from thinking about James having his arms around me as I glance around and realize that we're missing two people. "Hey, where are Rachel and Logan?"

James scrunches up his face at this and I raise my eyebrows at his reaction, having no idea what it's about. "Oh, they're still sleeping."

"And?" I ask when he doesn't elaborate on it and the face he made.

James just shakes his head at me and Carlos takes this opportunity to tell me what's going on. "They're still sleeping in her room," he crosses his arms and frowns a bit at me.

"No way," I say before jumping off my stool. I start storming over to Rachel's room, suddenly angry at her because I had told her not to lead him on and I know her well enough that she doesn't want to date him long term. As I reach the door, I pause and turn back to the guys as I hope I'm not about to walk into one of the most awkward situations possible with my best friend. "Please tell me they didn't have sex last night."

James spits out the juice he was taking a sip of and Carlos bursts out laughing at everything. Kendall finally decides to respond after a minute passes and Carlos is still laughing and James is still coughing from his juice. I can tell he's uncomfortable as he tries to avoid eye contact with me. "No, they just fell asleep right away."

"Good." I turn back around and kick open the door, feeling satisfied when it slams against the wall and makes a loud noise. I've always been one to enjoy making dramatic entrances, especially when I'm angry. Logan sits up immediately, looking around for where the sound came from and relaxes a little when he sees it was just me. Rachel on the other hand just groans and rolls over, pulling the blanket over her head. I walk in and stand next to her with my hands on my hips, waiting for her to notice me as Logan looks a little scared at my mood.

After a minute passes, she finally pulls the blanket down just enough to look at me. "Must you be so loud?"

"Yes," I say and pull the blanket off of her. She groans at me and is frowning as I grab her arm and drag her off the bed. "It's time you wake up."

She unwillingly stands up and glares at me as she yawns. "Fine, I'm up now."

I glance over at Logan before I start getting mad at Rachel. He's rubbing his face, trying to wake up and he looks like shit from last night, clearly having had a lot to drink. "Logan, can you please leave so I can talk to Rachel for a minute?"

He looks up at me and for a second he looks like he's about to start arguing with me. But when he sees the look on my face, he jumps off the bed and starts heading towards the door. "Yeah, I'll just go now."

I wait for the door to be shut behind him as I stare at Rachel. Once it's closed, I let out my frustration with you. "I told you not to lead Logan on like that."

Rachel shrugs as she sits down on the bed and pats the spot next to her for me to sit down, but I don't move. "Lauren, would you chill? I was drunk and not fully in control of my actions! And besides, all we did was dance, make out a little, and cuddled before I fell asleep."

"Still, you shouldn't be leading him on!" I finally sit down on the bed next to her and cross my legs as I frown at her. "He's going to start thinking you like him because he's a bit naïve. Plus, I'm not really sure if him and Camille are on or off right now. But I swear, Rachel, if you break his heart, you will regret it."

"Okay! I'll try not to lead him on anymore," she pauses to raise an eyebrow at me, waiting for my reaction. "Happy now?"

I wait a minute to respond for her, letting her think that I'm angry at her. But I'm really over it, understanding that when you're drunk you often do things that are not the best decisions. "Yeah I'm fine now."

She laughs and smiles at me as she pushes me over. "Dude, not cool making me think you were really mad at me! Now tell me what happened with you and James last night! I was too busy with Logan to notice anything."

I shrug at her. "Well your plan worked and dancing with another guy got him at least a little jealous. We danced for a little bit before we met up with you at the bar. And that's about all I remember, even though I feel like there is more that happened that I should remember."

We sit and think for a minute, trying to recall memories from last night. Suddenly, her face lights up in excitement and she gasps. "I remember! As we were getting ready to leave, we were trying to find you and James and you were outside together. And when we went to get you, you guys were totally making out!"

I gasp at this statement and start wondering how I couldn't remember something as big as that happening. "No way that happened!"

Rachel is giggling as she nods her head at me. "I'm positive it did! Oh this is so exciting! What are you going to do about it?"

I can't stop thinking about the fact that James and I were kissing last night and I can't remember anything. How could someone forget all of that? Maybe he was drunk enough that he is in the same boat as me and doesn't remember it happening. But there was that look he gave me earlier, like he knew something that I didn't. Yeah, he probably remembered all of it. "Nothing."

"What?"

"You heard me, I'm not going to do anything about it." I can see Rachel starting to get angry at me and know I need to explain myself quickly before she hits me. "I'm not going to deal with the awkward situation of bringing that up to him. What would I even say to him? 'Hey, I was too drunk to remember but did we make out last night?' I'd rather not have that conversation."

She frowns at this and looks down at the ground. "I suppose you're right. Man, I just want you two to get together already." She lifts her head up, confused as she sniffs a bit. "Is that breakfast I smell?"

I laugh as I stand up, grabbing her hands and pulling her up with me. "Come on, Kendall and Carlos are making breakfast."

"Why didn't you say something sooner? I don't know what we're still doing in here," she says as she drags me with her towards the door.

We're both laughing as we walk out to the kitchen and the guys all look up from putting food on their plates when they hear us. James smiles at us as he walks over with two plates full off food. "Good, you two are out," he says as he hands a plate to each of us. "I was just about to go get you."

I blush as I smile at him, feeling awkward now that I know what happened between us last night. He definitely notices me blushing as he starts smirking and has that look again where it seems like he knows something I don't. Yeah he definitely wasn't as drunk as I was last night and remembers everything that happened. I quickly turn and walk over to the table, trying to hide my embarrassment with James. I sit between Kendall and Carlos, happy that I can avoid James sitting next to me and start eating the food. Surprisingly, those two can cook some decent food.

We're all silent for a few minutes as we all eat, needing to take care of our hangovers. Eventually Rachel speaks up around bites of food. "So what are we going to do today?"

I shrug and look at the guys. Everyone but Kendall seems to have the same reaction as me. I raise one eyebrow at Kendall and he shrugs back at me. "We need to go back to our apartment soon or else my mom will start freaking out. But we can totally do something later."

"How about movie night?" Carlos suggests and I notice him looking more at Rachel than anyone else. That's something I'll have to ask him about at some point when we're not terribly busy preparing for the concert.

"I like that idea since we didn't get to have it last night," Logan adds and the rest of the guys agree with him.

"I'm cool with that," I say and turn to Rachel, knowing she has no idea about our weekly movie night. "What about you? We're just going to watch two movies and we do this every Friday."

"Sure, as long as I have some candy to eat."

"Of course we'll have candy," I say, slightly offended that she thinks I wouldn't make sure that we have candy because I have the biggest sweet tooth ever. I stand up to put my plate in the sink and turn back to the guys. "So you guys can head back to your apartment when you're done. Rachel and I can run out and get some food for us. Then we can meet back here or at your place. It doesn't really matter to me."

The guys all look at Kendall, clearly letting him be the one to make the decision like they do all the time. He just shrugs before answering. "I guess we can go to 2J."

"Alright sounds like a plan. Should we come over at 7?" I ask them and the guys all nod their heads in agreement as they start taking their dishes over to the sink. They set them down and start heading over to the door, pausing to turn around and say bye to us before leaving. James smirks at me and I feel my cheeks heating up like always when I'm around him. Once the door is closed behind them, I turn to Rachel and see her with her arms crossed at me. "Yeah I know, I need to say something to him already."

"I'm telling you, Lauren, it's so obvious that James is so crazy about you." She shakes her head before turning to walk towards her room. "Someday you'll listen to me."

"Yeah that will happen the same day you give up your flirtatious ways," I shout over to her jokingly and she flips me off over her shoulder as she's laughing. Once she's in her room, I sit down on my couch and sigh, knowing that she is probably right and I need to say something to James. But even just thinking about saying something to him gives me such anxiety and makes my stomach turn. I know I shouldn't want to date him because everyone knows he's the biggest flirt out of the guys and never dates anyone for a long time. But I know I can't worry about this now. I told Carlos that I would say something once the concert is over.

So that gives me only a couple weeks to face my fear and figure out how I'm going to tell James how I feel about him. I have no idea how I'm going to do this.


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter is so much fun and I really enjoyed writing it again and making it so much better. So I hope that you like it and please review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9:**

I sit in my dressing room, staring at myself in the mirror, zoning out as I can hear the faint screams of the fans waiting to see the concert. I try to stay calm and not get nervous, but my stomach is in knots and my hands are shaking. It's hard to believe that it was already time for the concert and it seems like the last few weeks flew by. Gustavo had us working crazy hours, wanting to make sure we were more than prepared for the show. I barely had time to hang out with Rachel and she was living with me. The only times I really saw the guys was when we would pass each other in the studio or the few times we rehearsed the dance for Music Sounds Better With U.

The door opens and in the mirror I see Rachel peak her head in. She smiles at me before walking in and closing the door behind her. "How are you feeling girl?"

I try to pretend like I'm okay but end up only being able to say quietly, "Really nervous."

She quickly walks over and gives me a big hug. "Lauren, you're going to be great," she says over my shoulder. She pulls away to look at me and keeps her hands on my shoulders. "Trust me, Lauren. You're beyond prepared for this; I've been to your rehearsals and I've seen you perform everything. Besides, you've handled way worse than this before with red carpets and movies."

"I guess," I say a bit reluctant to believe her. "But what if people don't like my music? It's the first time anyone else is going to hear it."

Rachel rolls her eyes at this. "Lauren, I've listened to all of your songs. A person would be really dumb if they didn't like your songs."

I smile a little bit at her comment, starting to feel slightly less nervous. But then there's a knock on my door and the nerves all come back and worse as Kelly opens it. "Lauren, are you ready?"

I take a deep breath and nod before standing up, taking one last look at my appearance. I didn't let Rachel pick out my outfit this time after the last time when we went to the club. So I ended up in an outfit I would normally wear, shiny black leggings, a white lace crop top, and black combat boots. I turn and look at Rachel and Kelly, both of them waiting for me and I smile at them. "Alright, let's go do this."

We walk out of the room and follow Kelly down a few hallways to make our way over to the stage. Once we're there, a crew member walks up to me and gets my mic set up on my head and attaches my in-ears to the back of my leggings.

As the crew member leaves, Gustavo walks over to us. "Alright, L-dog, it's finally here. Your very first concert performance. Everything will go perfectly fine since I had you rehearse everything hundreds, if not thousands, of times. The song order, which I'm sure you know, is Bad Romance, Freak the Freak Out, Hold It Against Me, and then we wrap things up with Sparks Fly." He looks at me and must realize how much I'm freaking out inside because he does something completely unusual for me. He pulls me into a tight hug, "Lauren, you're going to be perfect. I know you will be. I've had so many artists perform my songs over the years and you're definitely one of the most talented. And I'm not just saying that because you're my niece."

I laugh a little bit at what he said and smile at him. "Thanks Gustavo. I really do appreciate it."

"Alright, now go knock 'em dead!" He says as he gives me a light push over to the edge of the stage. "But not really because they need to hear the dogs sing so they'll go buy their album!"

I walk over to the side of the stage where my band is ready to go on. I glance out at the crowd and almost have a panic attack when I see how many people are there. The place is packed and there is easily thousands of people there. And I have to perform in front of all of them? And they're only going to be paying attention to me. "I can't do this, I can't do this," I mumble as I start backing up from the stage, about to have a full on panic attack. I bump into someone and they catch me before I start to fall over. Then I hear familiar voices laughing at me before I turn around to look at them.

James was the one who caught me and normally this would have made me blush but my face is probably white right now from how nervous I am. James is smiling at me until he sees my face and immediately gets concerned. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I can't go out there and sing in front of that many people!" I'm shaking my head as I gesture behind me at the stage and the crowd.

Kendall walks up to me then and puts an arm around me. "Yes you can, Lauren. It's really not that bad once you get out there."

I raise an eyebrow at him, not really trusting him since he's used to perform. "Yeah, but you guys have sang at tons of concerts before. This is my first."

"But before every one, I still get a bit nervous," Carlos responds and the other guys nod their heads in agreement. "That just adds to the excitement once you get out there!"

Logan steps up and gives me a sympathetic smile. "And we'll be right here on the sides, watching the whole time."

"So if you get nervous out there, just look over here and we'll be there encouraging you," James says and smiles at me.

I know that what they've said has started to make me feel better when I react my normal way to James' smile. I take a deep breath before I start smiling at them. "I'm so lucky that I have you guys as friends. Come here," I hold my arms out and they all give me a big hug. After a distracting minute of having James right next to me and feeling his arm around me, I pull away from all of them, starting to feel determined. "Alright let's do this before I lose my confidence."

I head back to the edge of the stage, the guys walking next to me and I feel a lot better about performing with them by my side. The band is waiting for me expectantly and I nod my head at them, letting them know I'm ready to go. They walk out on stage and the crowd starts to cheer as they get in place. Once they're ready, the lights fade out and I take a deep breath before walking out on the stage. I go to the center of the stage as the screams are deafening around me and I wait a couple seconds before giving the band their cue to start. My nerves have kicked back in and a little bit of adrenaline too as I hear the screaming crowd. I glance back over at the guys and see them smiling and giving me thumbs up, and I have the final courage I need to start performing.

I give the band their cue and they start playing. When the lights come up, are starting singing. "Oh, caught in a bad romance." The crowd starts screaming louder at this and I can't help but start smiling. I sing through the first verse, still a little nervous as I walk around the stage and touch some of the crowd's hands. But by time I get to the chorus, my nerves have faded away and I start having fun as my back-up dancers come out and I start dancing with them.

The rest of the song flies by as I have fun and fall back on the routine of performing the song that I had learned from all those many times rehearsing at Rocque Records. Before I realize it, the song is over and I'm standing there, staring out at the crowd and breathing heavy from the dancing. But I can't help but smile like an idiot as I look out at all of the cheering people, getting a rush from the energy of performing in front of people. I can't help but wonder why I was so nervous about performing because this is a great feeling.

"What's up L.A.?" I shout and the crowd responds with lots of loud screams. I wait a few seconds before continuing, just listening to the crowd responding to everything I do. "Are you guys having fun yet?" They answer me with more screams and I can't help but laugh at how much fun this is. "I don't think you guys are having enough fun yet. So how about another song?"

The crowd is screaming as the music for my next song starts to play. I start slowly walking to the front of the stage as I start singing. "Are you listening? Hear me talk, hear me sing. Open up the door, is it less, is it more?" I continue singing, interacting with the girls up at the front of the stage. When I get to the chorus, I start dancing and I can't help but be smiling. Dancing to my songs might just be my favorite part of performing.

When I get to a small break in the song, I start clapping my hands above my head. "Come on, let me see those hands!" I can't help but laugh a little in excitement when the crowd follows my action and starts clapping their hands as I continue singing. At the second chorus, I'm shocked when I see that some of the people in the front have already started to pick up on the lyrics.

As I finish the song, the crowd cheers even louder than after the first song. I take in the screams and notice a lot of camera flashes going off and that just makes me happier that people are wanting to take pictures of me performing. I head back by my drummer and drink some water quickly before walking back to the stage. "Okay I think you guys are having fun now. But let's keep this part going. This is Hold It Against Me!"

The crowd screams loudly as the music starts and I get in place near the back of the stage. My heart starts racing in excitement over performing this song because it has my favorite dance routine. "Hey, over there," I start singing as I point out towards the crowd. "Please forgive me if I'm coming on too strong. Hate to stare, but you're winning and they're playing my favorite song."

I start slowly walking to the front of the stage as two of my male back-up dancers come out on stage and start walking over to me. "So come here, a little closer," I motion over to the dancers at this point as I sing this line and start smirking at how much fun and sexy this song is. "Wanna whisper in your ear, make it clear. Make it clear, little question. Want to know just how you feel."

The two dancers reach me at this point and stand on either side of me as I start singing the chorus. I stand and look out at the crowd as I sing. "If I said my heart was beating loud, if we could escape the crowd somehow. If I said I want your body now, would you hold it against me?" I hold out my arms to the side and the guys pick me up as they walk back on the stage. "'Cause you feel like paradise and I need a vacation tonight. So if I said I want your body now, would you hold it against me?"

As the song has a small break, I start dancing with the two guys and continue as I sing the next verse. When I get to the next chorus, we stop dancing briefly. But then I get to the large break in the song and I start smiling as we start the major dance for the song. "Give me something good, don't wanna wait I want it now. Pop it like a hood, and show me how you work it out."

The crowd is going crazy as we finish the major dance and as the song slows down, the two dancers fall to the ground and I fall to my knees, keeping my head down. I'm smiling like crazy at the crowd's reaction to the entire performance as the song starts picking up and the guys start standing up. I slowly look up at the crowd and start singing again. "If I said my heart was beating, if I said I want your body now, would you hold it against me?" I hold my arms out to the side at this point and the guys pull me up as the song resumes at the fast beat and we continue dancing through the final chorus.

As the song ends, the three of us strike poses and loud screams erupt throughout the arena. I start grinning as I'm breathing heavy from the intense dancing. The dancers run off stage and I walk over towards my guitarist Frank and drink a ton of water before grabbing my guitar from next to him.

I turn around and start walking towards the front of the stage as I put the strap over my shoulder. As I'm walking over, I look over at the side of the stage and see the guys, Kelly, Gustavo, and Rachel all standing there with big smiles on their faces and cheering for me. I'm smiling as I turn back to the crowd, ready to sing my most personal song that I haven't let the guys hear yet. "So I've got one more song for all of you tonight. First I have a question for you: who here has ever fallen in love with their best friend?"

A lot of people cheer at this and raise their hands. "I know that I sure have. I wrote this next song about this one guy. He is everything that a girl could ever ask for. But there's one small problem." I pause and look out at the cheering crowd and their waiting for my answer. "He has no idea how I feel. But every time I'm with him, I swear I see sparks fly."

I start playing my guitar and I start smiling as the crowd starts cheering. I feel a little bit of nervousness as I start to sing, worried about how people will react to the song I wrote. "The way you move is like a full on rainstorm and I'm a house of cards. You're the kind of reckless that should send me running but I kinda know that I won't get far."

I start slowly walking towards the front of the stage, feeling more confident about my song as I see how the crowd is reacting to it. "And you stood there in front of me just," I reach my hand out towards the crowd at this point. "Close enough to touch. Close enough to hope you couldn't see what I was thinking of."

I excitedly start playing the chorus, feeling so many emotions as I perform the song about my life. "Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain. Kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain 'cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile. Get me with those brown eyes baby as the lights go down. Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around 'cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

I smile at the crowd as I walk over to one side of the stage as I play my guitar. I can't help but think about the times with James that inspired this song, like when we were dancing together and when he kissed me in my apartment that one time. And I also think about why I haven't said anything to him yet. "My mind forgets to remind me you're a bad idea. You touch me once and it's really something, you find I'm even better than you imagined I would be. I'm on my guard for the rest of the world but with you, I know it's no good."

As I get back to the chorus, I start walking back to the center of the stage. "And I could wait patiently but, I really wish you would drop everything now. Meet me in the pouring rain, kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile. Get me with those brown eyes baby as the lights go down. Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

I start jamming out on my guitar to the next part of the song that was inspired by the things I wish James would do. "I run my fingers through your hair and watch the lights go wild. Just keep on keeping your eyes on me, it's just wrong enough to make it feel right. And lead me up the staircase, won't you whisper soft and slow? I'm captivated by you baby like a firework show."

I stand and look out at the crowd as the song slows down and I let my emotions and everything I feel towards James come out as I sing. "Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain. Kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain. 'Cause I see sparks fly," I glance over at the side of the stage and see all of my friends smiling at me. But mostly I notice James smiling that perfect smile of his at me. "Whenever you smile."

I start moving around the stage, having a lot more energy after seeing James smile at me. That smile of his can affect me so much and I channel this into the final chorus. "Get me with those brown eyes baby as the lights go down, give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

I walk back over to the center of the stage, smiling at the crowd as the song finishes. "And the sparks fly, oh baby smile. And the sparks fly." With a final chord, the entire crowd bursts into loud screams, probably the loudest yet.

I just stand there for a minute, amazed at how they're reacting to me and especially towards the song that I put so much emotion into. I'm grinning at all of them as I take a bow and gesture to my band. "Thank you guys so much! If you liked my songs, you can pick them up at one of the merch tables. Thanks again!"

I wave at the crowd as I run off the stage, taking my guitar strap off of my shoulder. As soon as I reach the side of the stage, I'm attached with tons of hugs.

Rachel is shouting at me as she screams a little. "Lauren you were so awesome!"

"Great job, L-dog," my uncle says and I almost want to start crying at him being proud of me. He always has been my favorite uncle and it means a lot that he is happy with the hard work we've both put in.

The guys all start congratulating me and talking at once. I try keeping track of what they're saying but I mostly notice James who isn't saying much but is smiling what looks to be almost a fake smile. "Hey Lauren, can I talk to you real quick?"

"Sure," I say, confused by his reaction to me. But I follow him, moving away from everyone else.

He turns around and looks at me once we're far enough away from everyone else that they won't overhear us. "Who is your song about?" he asks, right to the point.

I look up at him and want nothing more than to just tell him right then and there that the song is about him. When I start imaging how that might work out, I come back to reality and realize that it would be a bad idea to say something to him right before he has to perform. And I have to dance with him later and don't want to deal with that awkwardness if his reaction is not the one I want.

I sigh as I shake my head at him, a little curious about why he wants to know so badly. "Just listen to the lyrics, James, and you'll have your answer."

As I turn and start walking to my dressing room, I can't help but wonder if I should have just told him. But the knot of nerves in my stomach quickly tells me that that would have been a bad idea. I can hear James shout after me as I get to the hallways towards the dressing rooms and I shake my head at him, "Is it about Carlos?"

Once I've finally made it through the hallway after getting stopped a couple times by crew members telling me good job, I get to my dressing room. I close the door and sigh before throwing myself down on the couch. Will James ever realize how I feel about him? It's starting to seem like he's oblivious to everything I do around him.

There's a knock on my door and I shout to the person, secretly hoping a little that it isn't James because I don't know what I would even say to him right now. "Come in!"

The door opens a bit and Carlos peeks his head in at me. "You should see James out there. He's running around asking everyone if they know who your song is about." He chuckles as he walks in and closes the door behind him. "He first went to Rachel and she just told him that she's sworn to secrecy. Then he came up to me because he seems to think the song is about me. I assured him that it wasn't, but that I also don't know who it's about."

I smile at this and laugh a little bit, imaging James trying to get an answer from Rachel and knowing her reaction would have been hilarious to see. "Thanks for not saying anything." I sigh as I lean back against the couch. "Will he ever figure out that the song is about him?"

"I think he will eventually," Carlos answers as he sits down on the couch next to me. "It might just take a bit longer for him to figure it out compared to others because he's not exactly the smartest person." He pauses and smiles at me. "But enough being sad about that! Your performance was awesome! The crowd totally loved you and I bet there's a line right now to go buy your songs."

I start smiling at him before hugging him. "Thanks Carlos. I sure hope they do. Honestly I'm still surprised that they actually like me singing."

"When are you going to realize that you have a really good voice?" Carlos shakes his head and smiles as he stands up, holding out a hand to me. I grab it and he pulls me up. "Now, I have to go get ready to head out on stage. And you need to come watch us perform."

"Of course," I say as we walk out of the room and head back towards the stage. "And then I have to dance with you guys for Music Sounds Better With U. Hopefully that won't be too awkward dancing with James after him desperately trying to figure out who my song is about."

As we go around the corner, I spot the other guys around Gustavo and notice that James looks almost a little disheveled. Did my song really make him this shaken up?

Kelly notices Carlos and drags him over to the other guys as I walk over to Rachel. When James notices me, it almost looks like he's ready to walk over to me but my uncle stops him from moving as he instructs crew to give the guys their mics.

Rachel is laughing with her arms crossed as I walk up to her. "That boy of yours is ridiculous. But anyways, you did such a good job out there! Sparks Fly was so perfect and adorable and I just want you two to start dating already. So you need to tell him how you feel already."

I chuckle at her demanding me, not asking me to tell him as I look away from the guys getting ready and look at Rachel. "I'll give him a week. If he doesn't figure out the song is about him by the time our party's over, I'll tell him then."

We hear the guys cheer with their band and the crew and look over at them. They seem to be ready to go out and I'm confused about the black sunglasses and cloaks they have on. "What's up with the outfit?" I ask as we walk over to them.

"You'll see in a minute," Kendall responds with a mischievous smile as he puts the hood up. The other guys do the same as they all walk over to the side of the stage. The lights fade and the crowd goes crazy as the guys walk out on stage.

They line up and all start slowly making their way to the front. When they are at the front of the stage, they take off their cloaks and the crowd screams loudly when they finally get to see their faces. But then their jackets light up and Rachel and I both cheer with the crowd as they start singing. "Elevate a little higher."

Rachel and I dance around backstage as the guys sing their new song Elevate. I had only heard a little bit of it from being in the studio so I had no idea how catchy it really was. The two of us dance backstage as the guys perform, having so much fun. We both scream along the lyrics to Big Time Rush and then Til I Forget About You. While the guys are performing Big Night, Caitlin, Stephanie, and Emma join us and watch the guys perform while waiting to go out and dance.

After singing City Is Ours, a couple crew members walk out carrying stools for the guys to sit on and I'm a bit confused at first when they set down an extra one but a quick glance at the set list clears my confusion when I see that they are performing Worldwide next. Kendall walks to the front of the stage and addresses the screaming crowd. "So we're going to slow things down a bit. But for this next song, we're going to need someone special to come on stage and help us."

All the girls start screaming like crazy, wanting to be picked. I can't blame them for wanting to get picked, the guys all sing to the chosen girl and I know I would want to be picked if I wasn't friends with them. Carlos starts scanning the crowd as Logan starts walking over to the side of the stage we're on. "I'm not sure if she's out there," Logan says and everyone is confused about what he means before he continues walking over to where we're standing and holds out his hand for me. "Come on, Lauren, let's go," he says with a big smile that shows his dimples.

I take his hand and as he starts to lead me back out on stage, I turn to look at Rachel, confused about what is even happening. She shrugs at me, clearly just as confused about what is going on.

As soon as I'm back on the stage and the crowd sees me, Carlos yells, "Let's hear it for Lauren!"

I wave at the crowd, still confused about why the guys have brought me out here for Worldwide when they're supposed to pick a girl in the audience. Logan has me sit down on the stool in the middle before sitting to my right, Carlos on the other side of him. James sits down on my left and as Kendall sits on the last stool, I give James a look asking him what's going on.

James just smiles at me, clearly happy at the fact that I'm so confused about being back on stage. He turns back to the crowd and starts talking to the audience as I sit there watching him. I almost don't hear what he says as I get distracted about how good his hair looks pushed back right now from him getting sweaty on stage. "So a couple months ago, we met Lauren for the first time. And now she's one of our best friends."

Kendall continues talking to the crowd as James smiles at me and I can't help but smile back at him because I really have had a great time since I became friends with them. "And we brought her out here to tell her how much she means to all of us." Kendall smiles over at me. "So this is Worldwide."

The guitarist starts to play the music and James grabs my hand before he starts singing and I just know my face is very red as I look down at his hand holding mine before looking up at him. "Wait a minute, before you tell me anything, how was your day? 'Cause I've been missing you by my side."

As he continues singing to me, I can't help but giggle at how amazing it is to have him singing to me and focusing all of his attention on me. "Did I awake you out of dream, I'm sorry but I couldn't sleep."

Kendall sings and I look over at him while James still holds on to my hand. "You calm me down there's something about the sound of your voice."

As Carlos starts singing, I look over at him and see him smirking at me and I quickly realize that this was his plan. Clearly he knew James would hold my hand if I was worldwide girl. "Oh I'm never, never as far away as it may seem. Soon we'll be together, we'll pick up right where we left off."

As the guys start to sing the chorus, they get the crowd going with waving their hands in the air and I join in with them, also singing along to the song. This song is one of my favorites by them so I can't help but sing along.

When Logan starts to sing his part, he grabs my other hand and holds on to it as he sings to me. "Yes, I may meet a million pretty girls that know my name. But don't you worry, 'cause you have my heart. It ain't easy to keep on moving city to city just get up and go."

I'm laughing at how much fun this is and how sweet the guys are as Kendall sings, "The show must go on so I need you to be strong."

Carlos sings his part and I can't help but freak out a little over having the guys sing to me. They all sing the chorus again and I sing along to myself, still holding on to James' hand. But when they get to the bridge, Carlos walks over and puts his arm around my shoulder as he sings to me. "Oh, wherever the wind blows me. Yes you're the one and only girl on my mind."

He glances up to my left and smiles before stepping back. I go to look over but Kendall's arm is around me. "And I said no, there ain't no one better. So always remember," he leans over and kisses my cheek quickly before walking away.

I sit there with my mouth open, hardly believing that just happened but then James sings his high note and tightens his grip on my hand and I cover my mouth with my other hand, trying not to freak out at how amazing this is. "Girl you're mine."

They finish singing through the last chorus and I'm sitting there in shock at being on stage with them for my song. You would think this wouldn't be that big of a deal for me since I'm good friends with them, but they've never sang one of their songs to me before. As the song finishes, Logan grabs my hand again and I lean over against his shoulder, laughing at everything because I'm just happy. "Yes, I may meet a million pretty girls that know my name. But don't you worry, 'cause you have my heart."

Once the song is finished, the crowd cheers loudly and I stand up and hug each of the guys. We then start walking off stage and James puts his arm around me, causing me to continue blushing like I've been doing since they brought me out on stage. I can't help but smile like a fool though and once we're off stage, I turn and look at all of them. "You guys are crazy."

"We know," is all Carlos says as he smiles at me.

"But we can't talk, we got to get back on stage," Kendall says before they all take off running to have a quick outfit change.

I turn and walk back over to Rachel who is giggling. "Did that really just happen?"

"Yes, it did!" She responds and smiles at me excitedly as she claps her hands. "That was so adorable!"

The crowd starts screaming louder and I know that must mean that the guys have gone back on stage. "Come on, let's go watch them! We can talk about this later," I say as I grab her hand and we run back over to the side of the stage.

We continue dancing along to their songs as they first sing Halfway There. Rachel sings along excitedly to Nothing Even Matters since she loves the song. We both sing along and dance to Boyfriend, and I can't help but laugh when Rachel points at me when singing about looking for a boyfriend. The next song they play is new and it's pretty catchy and I look at the set list to see that it's called If I Ruled The World. But I then realize that Music Sounds Better With U is next so I don't dance along too much as I get ready to head out. Caitlin is waiting next to me while the other two girls are on the opposite side of the stage.

The guys pause before singing the last song to thank their fans and to remind them about their album coming out. They look to both sides to make sure we're all ready and then the music starts playing.

I walk out on stage for the third time tonight and walk over to James as the crowd starts screaming. I run my hand across his back, smiling when he grabs my hand for a second time tonight and he starts singing to me. "I try to write this down, the words just don't come out." I let go of his hand and don't have to pretend to be flirting with him as I smile at him, starting to walk away from him. All I can think about is wanting him to figure out who my song is about. "It's hard to say how you feel."

He chases after me and wraps his arms around me and I feel my heart start beating faster as I feel him against me. I know that this is just for a dance but I can't help but love the feeling of being close to him and I want to have things be like this all the time. The crowd starts to go crazy when they see this but I hardly notice them as I look up at James singing over my shoulder. "Been down the longest road, said yes when I meant no. I lost control of the wheel."

James spins me out from his embrace as the other girls come out on stage and go to their partner. We all start dancing as the guys sing the chorus and the crowd loves it. When the chorus ends, James and I stand towards the back of the stage as Kendall goes to the front with Stephanie for his part of the song.

I stand up against James with my hands pressed against his chest and he has his arms around me. He smirks at me, "So are you going to tell me who your song is about?" He asks me quietly so he doesn't get picked up by his mic.

I wink at him before responding right before he has to spin me away to continue dancing. "Never."

We start dancing to the chorus again and I can see out of the corner of my eye that he's deep in thought as he sings. I can't help but feel proud of stumping him as the guys get to the rap part of the song and I move to the back over the stage and dance with the other girls. The guys soon join us again and we all finish dancing to the song.

When we finish, the crowd erupts into the loudest screams of the night. The guys gesture to us girls and we all wave at the crowd before running off stage, letting the guys say goodbye to everyone. I can hear them thanking everyone for coming before they run off stage and when I see them, I start smiling and hug all of them. "That was such an amazing concert!"

"Yes, it was," Gustavo says as he walk over to us with Kelly. "Great job, dogs. I'm sure everyone is going to buy your new album. And L-dog, good news: we sold out of all of the copies that we brought of your demo."

My jaw drops open in shock as I look at him. "You're kidding me."

"We're completely serious so great job," Kelly says and smiles at me as the guys pat me on the back and talk about how awesome that is. I'm still in shock that people actually bought my songs and don't hear what Kelly was telling us and have to make her repeat it. "You guys can have a week off."

She nudges my uncle and I can see him struggle to speak, clearly still getting used to being nice to the guys. "Good job out there, dogs. You've earned your break."

As Gustavo and Kelly walk away, I turn and smile as I watch the guys celebrating their concert. Rachel joins me and we finally get the guys to calm down enough so that we can get back to the Palmwoods. I'm still smiling as we all pile into the limo but when I see James sitting there deep in thought, I know I have a long week ahead of me as I prepare for our birthday party and having to tell him how I feel.


	10. Chapter 10

**Alright this chapter is one of my favorites so have fun reading it and please don't hate me for the ending lol. Please review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10:**

We slowly open the bedroom door and Rachel starts giggling next to me. I shush her as we walk into the room. "Do you want him to hear us?" I whisper quietly.

She shakes her head at me and struggles to hold in her laughter as we walk up to the bed and stand on opposite sides. I start having to fight the urge to laugh as I look down at James sleeping and start thinking about what we're about to do to him. I hold up my fingers to Rachel and count to three before we jump on the bed and tackle him. "Happy birthday James!"

He sits up right away, shocked by us and we both start laughing at his reaction. "What are you guys doing?"

I smile at him as I sit down next to him. I have to fight to keep my eyes on his face and not on the tight v-neck that is showing off all of his muscles. "Waking you up, birthday boy!"

He rubs his eyes before looking at us, a faint smile on his lips. "Well did that really require jumping on my bed and attacking me?"

Rachel nods her head up and down quickly while smiling at him. It had been her idea to do this; I was fine with waking him up like a normal person. "Yup, it sure did!"

"You two are insane," he says as he shakes his head but I can tell he's joking by him smiling at us.

I hop off the bed and grab his arm, trying to pull him off the bed but failing since he's so much bigger than I am. "Come on, we've got a big day ahead of us! You're not allowed to lay around in bed anymore!" I give a big tug on his arm and he must not have been expecting it because I succeed in yanking him off the bed. But I end up pulling us both down to the floor and he lands right on top of me.

I'm blushing really bad as I look up at him and he smirks at me like he always does when he notices me blushing around him. Our lips are so close to each other and I want so badly to close the distance between us. But Rachel starts laughing at what happened to the two of us and we both snap out of it and he moves off of me. He holds a hand up for me and I take it as he laughs a little at me. "So clearly that didn't work out like you planned. But now that you have me up, what do you want me to do?"

James holds on to my hand a second longer than necessary after he pulls me up from the floor and I have to clear my throat as I collect myself. "Well, you need to get ready for the party so that you can help me decorate later. But first, present time!" I start to push his back to get him out of the room, not trusting myself with what might happen if I try pulling him by his arm.

He turns around quickly and I end up pushing on his abs for a second before I pull away, realizing what happened. My cheeks heat up as I look up at him. He's smirking and steps out of my way. "You guys go ahead, I have to grab your gift first."

Rachel and I walk out of his room before I can embarrass myself some more and once his door is shut behind us, she starts laughing and I cut her off with a glare. "Rachel, why don't you go bother someone else?"

She holds her hands up in defense before she heads out of the apartment, starting to laugh some more when I'm not close enough to hit her. I shake my head at her as I sit down on the couch and grab the envelope I put on the table earlier. I hear James walk out of his room and look over to see him carrying a box with a big bow on it.

James sits down on the couch next to me and holds the box out to me. "You go first."

I take the box from him and can't help but wonder what it is. I unwrap it and inside I find a silver frame with several pictures in it of me at the concert last week. I can't help but smile as I see one of me performing Sparks Fly, then when I was on stage for Worldwide, and also one of me dancing with James. I look up at him and see him waiting for my reaction. "James, this is perfect," I say before giving him a hug. When I pull away, I look at the pictures again for a couple seconds before glancing at the envelope I have for him, suddenly not feeling like what I did for his gift is enough compared to what he did for me.

I sigh and hand the envelope over to him, hoping that I know him well enough to know what he would be excited about. He pulls out the business card inside and looks up at me confused. "What's this?"

"That," I say and hope he's about to be very excited, "Is the number for the hiring manager of 'Cuda's modeling department. I happen to know him from my dad so I gave him a call and he would be happy to have you model for 'Cuda for one photoshoot."

His jaw drops open and he stays that way for a few seconds, just staring at the card. I raise my eyebrows at him and wave a hand in front of his face and that gets him to snap out of it. "I'm going to be a model for 'Cuda? I always knew they would want the face," he says excitedly before doing his hand motions for the face. He starts grinning at me and suddenly pulls me into a tight hug and I can barely breathe. "Lauren you are the best. This is the best birthday gift I've ever gotten! Thank you so, so much!"

James finally let's go of me and I can't help but laugh a little at how excited he is about my gift. I was worried that he wouldn't think it would be a good enough birthday gift but I guess my gut instinct was right this time. "Well I'm glad you're happy about it. But now, go get ready so you can help me decorate my apartment in a little bit. And make sure you bring the rest of the guys with you."

I stand up and hug him again for his gift and as I pick up my picture frame, he's smiling at me. "Thanks again, James."

He smiles at me as I start walking towards the door and he starts going over to his room. "You're welcome, Lauren."

I walk out of his apartment and as I'm closing the door behind me, I jump when Rachel starts talking to me. I hadn't realized that she was going to be waiting for me to leave. "That is such a sweet gift he got you. I'm telling you, he totally likes you."

We start walking towards the elevator and I nudge her. "How do you know?"

She pauses to give me a look like I'm an idiot as we step on the elevator. She rolls her eyes as she presses the button for our floor and the doors close. "No guys would spend the money or time on a sentimental birthday gift like that unless he really likes her."

"Whatever," I say and shake my head at her as I step out on my floor, but I'm still smiling at her, kind of hoping she's right. "I'm not going to worry about that right now. Instead, I'm going to focus on getting the place ready for the party later."

I hand my key to Rachel to unlock the door and walk in behind her. She closes the door and turns to me. "So we have a little over five hours before the party starts. In that time, we both need to shower and get ready, decorate the apartment, and get snacks and drinks out. Luckily we have multiple bathrooms so let's both go shower now."

I nod my head in agreement before I head over to my room. I carefully set the picture frame down on my dresser and start smiling at it. James really did manage to pick out a perfect birthday gift for me. I turn and head into the bathroom preparing to take a quick shower. As I stand there in the hot water, I can't help but get distracted about later. Today was the last day before I promised Carlos that I would say something to James and I wasn't prepared at all to tell him how I feel.

I sigh as I finish showering and dry off. There's no point in stressing about it now since I have a lot of other things to worry about today. I throw on a t-shirt and sweatpants, not wanting to put my dress on until later today. I dry my hair before walking out of my room when I hear a knock at the front door.

Rachel is opening the door as I walk into the living room and the guys all walk in to my apartment. "Hey guys," I say as I continue walking towards the kitchen and wave for them to follow me. I stop in front of the bags full of party supplies and wait for them to join me. "So, we obviously need to make this apartment look totally awesome for the party. Kendall and Carlos, can you two handle decorating?"

"On it!" Carlos yells and give Kendall a high five. I hand them the bags with decorations and as they go about the apartment, already arguing about what should go where, I can't help but wonder if I made the right decision with them."

I shake my head before turning to look at Logan. "Can you take care of getting snacks and drinks ready?"

"Sure," he says and smiles as he walks over to the bags with all of the food and starts putting snacks in the bowls I put out for them.

Rachel walks back out of her room carrying her purse and I give her a confused look at her getting ready to leave the apartment when there's still a lot to do. "I have to go do something real quick. I promise I'll be back like a half hour."

"Okay," I say, knowing it will probably be closer to 45 minutes before she's back. But I wave to her and turn to look at James. "I have to get ready but I guess you can just do whatever. Maybe see if Kendall and Carlos need help decorating?"

"No problem," he says smiling before putting a hand on my back a lightly pushing me towards my room. "Go get ready, I'll make sure these two don't kill each other."

I smile over my shoulder at him before walking into my room. I head into the bathroom and plug my curling iron on before putting some music on. I dance around for a couple minutes before the curling iron is ready. I start styling my hair as I continue listening to music, singing along to the songs as they go through shuffle. I get about halfway done with my hair when I hear Rachel yelling for me.

I pause my music and head out of my bathroom and back into the main part of the apartment. The guys have gotten some of the wall decorations up and hung up lights and it's starting to look good. Carlos laughs when he says my hair half curled, half straight and Rachel smiles a little at it. I cross my arms at him before turning back to a very excited Rachel. "So I got something for you and James!"

She points to the table behind her and I walk over to it with James. Sitting there is a huge cake that says 'Happy Birthday James and Lauren' along with a picture of us dancing at the concert last week. I turn back to her, smiling at how perfect the cake is and hug her. "Rachel, this is awesome. Thank you!"

She laughs at this and lets go of me to give me a shove back towards my room. "Yeah, I know. Now go finish getting ready, your hair looks stupid like that."

I stick my tongue out at her and she laughs at this as I walk back to my room to finish my hair. By time I've finished, it's already after 4:30 and I have only a little over two hours before people start getting her.

I start putting my make-up on, taking longer than I should because I'm too busy singing along to music instead of concentrating on getting it down. Once I finished putting red lipstick on, I go to my closet and take out the white, long sleeve romper I bought specifically to wear tonight. Once it's on, I inspect my appearance in the mirror and feel content with how I look.

As I leave my room, I look at the time and see that we now have less than a half hour before people start showing up. I glance around and see that my apartment has been completed transformed. There are strings of lights everywhere, setting a better lighting for a party. Party decorations are all over and the furniture has been rearranged to have a more open space in the middle of the apartment. "Wow. You guys did a really good job."

"Yeah we did!" Carlos says happily from over by the counter where he is eating some food. The entire kitchen area has been filled with bowls full of snacks and there are tons of different types of soda and alcohol lined along the counter. The guys even got music to be playing throughout the apartment.

Rachel walks up to me and examines my outfit. "Your boobs look good," she says and laughs at this before going to sit next to Carlos at the kitchen counter.

I laugh at her typical response as I walk over to my couch that is now up against the wall. I sit down next to Logan and Kendall and realize that we're missing a person. "Hey, where's James?"

"Probably getting breath mints for later," Carlos says and Rachel makes kissy noises before they both start laughing and high five each other.

I glare at their comment before looking at Kendall and Logan who are both trying not to laugh. "What, does everyone here think me and James like each other?"

"Yes," they all say and I cross my arms at this, slightly offended that all of my friends seem to be talking about me liking James behind my back.

"Well if you really want to know where he is," Kendall speaks up after he sees me pouting. "He went back to our apartment to go fix his hair."

"Typical James," Logan adds to this and I can't help but agree with him. That boy really did care about his hair more than he cared about a majority of people.

The apartment door opens and James walks back in then, and I raise an eyebrow as I take in his appearance. The button up shirt he's wearing has been unbuttoned one or two buttons more than most people would, revealing his toned chest. And the jeans he's wearing are tight and don't leave very much to the imagination. I snap out of my staring when I feel my phone buzz and look down to see a text from Rachel. _Wipe the drool off of your chin._

I glare over at her and she laughs at my reaction. James walks over to us, seemingly not aware of the attention I had paid to him. "So everything is ready to go?" he asks and as he looks over at me, I see that glimmer in his eyes that he always has when he catches me staring at him. Of course he had noticed.

I clear my throat as I look up at him, trying to keep my mind focused on the party that was about to happen and not how attractive he looks tonight. "Yeah it seems like it. And Bitters definitely won't be trying to stop this party tonight. I made sure he'll be fine with it by giving him a small bribe."

The guys laugh at this as someone knocks on the door. I get up and head over, opening the door to see Camille and Lucy. "Hey, come on in!"

I hug the two girls before they walk in the apartment and start going over to the guys to talk to them. I see the Jennifers making their way down the hallway and decide to wait for them at the door, smiling at them. "Hey girls, so glad you could make it," I say as they walk in.

"Please, we never miss a party," the blonde one says and smiles at me.

"Besides, we wouldn't miss your birthday party," the curly hair one adds.

"Especially because rumor has it there are going to be some cute guys here," the third one adds.

I laugh at their comments and smile at them. I actually got along with the three of them pretty well and they're actually nice to me, which I learned is a rare things. "Well, they should be here soon. And thanks again for coming tonight."

They head over to start talking to Carlos and Rachel walks over to me with Lucy. We talk for a little bit as more people start to arrive. After a little while, James opens the door and I see my three best friends from filming The Hunger Games and I run over to hug all of them. "I've missed you guys so much!"

I turn to James, ready to introduce them to him. "Alright, so this is Alex," I say as I point to the tall, muscular blond. "This is Jackie," I gesture to the girl with the bright red hair. "And finally, this here is Jack, my good old district partner," I say as I smile at the last person. "Everyone, this is James."

They all say hi to him before going into the apartment, going to talk to different people. I try to mingle around for a bit, talking to everyone that showed up for the party.

After a little while, I get myself a mixed drink, feeling the need to get some alcohol in me to deal with all of this socializing. As I lean against my counter, I observe what everyone's doing. The Jennifers are all talking to Alex and laughing at something that he said. I'm sure they're loving the fact that he's also a model. Lucy and Camille are talking to Jackie and I smile at this, happy that my friends at the Palmwoods are getting along with my friends from filming. Jack is animatedly telling a story to James who is laughing hysterically at it and I quickly realize that Jack is probably telling an embarrassing story about me from set.

I start to walk over to stop him from embarrassing me when Rachel runs up to me. "I can't deal with Logan, he's so geeky!"

I finish my drink before turning to her. "You're just now noticing that?" She nods her head quickly in response. "Well what did he do?"

"Well, he's quite obviously getting drunk, so he came up to me and said 'I wish I was DNA helicase so I could unzip your genes'." I burst out laughing at this and she smacks me on the arm. "It's not funny, Lauren!"

I pour myself another drink as I try not to laugh at this. One drink is not enough for me to be able to put up with drunk Logan. As I take a couple sips of my new drink while looking at Rachel being annoyed at Logan, I can start to feel the alcohol make my brain a little fuzzy. "You know, you're totally right. It's not funny, it's freaking hilarious!"

I can see her trying not to smile at me as she gets herself a drink. "Whatever, I'm just going to stay away from him for the rest of the night if he keeps acting like that."

"That's probably a good idea," I say as I take a sip of my drink.

"Now I'm going to go talk to Carlos because he's not super geeky and he's actually pretty funny," she says determined as she takes a large sip of her drink.

"Alright you have fun with that," I say as she starts to walk away and I shake my head as I laugh a little at her situation. I did warn her not to lead Logan on and she didn't listen to me.

I see the Jennifers start walking over to me and smile at them. "Hey, what's up?"

"We want to play a party game," the curly hair one says and I raise an eyebrow at this, not having expected them to be the ones to suggest this.

I take a sip of my drink before responding. "Sure, what game?"

"We're thinking seven minutes in heaven," the blonde one says as she crosses her arms at me. "There's lots of cute guys here and we want a good excuse to be able to make out with some of them."

"Um, sure," I respond, not really feeling too good about playing this game but I'm sure there's no harm in it. "I can get everything ready if you can go tell everyone and get them together."

"We will," the brunette Jennifer says before they all leave me, starting to walk around and tell everyone about the game.

I wave James over to me now that I see he's done talking to Jack. Since this is also his birthday party, he's getting stuck helping me out with these. He's smiling as he walks up to me. "What's up?"

"The Jennifers want to play seven minutes in heaven," I say and he raises his eyebrows at this. "I know, it wasn't my idea. But you're going to help me get things together."

"Just tell me what I have to do."

"I'll get some paper so that we can write all of the names down," I say, trying to think of what we'll need for this game. "You can go in the kitchen and find a bowl to put them in." He nods in understanding and heads to the kitchen while I make my way through the crowd of people to my room.

I grab some paper and a pen before heading back out to the kitchen, finishing my drink as I walk. I start tearing the paper into smaller pieces and write down the names of all of the guys here. Once I toss the paper into the bowl James got for me, I can't help but start getting a little concerned about this game. I didn't really want to get stuck in a tiny closet with someone I wasn't that close with for seven minutes. Picking up the bowl, I head over to where everyone is sitting, deciding not to make myself another drink before this game because I want my head to be relatively clear so I don't do anything stupid.

I place the bowl in the center of where everyone is sitting and put my hands on my hips as I look around at everyone, not being very happy with my choices in guys besides James. But it's unlikely that I'll end up picking him and besides, I wouldn't be able to actually kiss him if I did. "Alright so the names of all of the guys are in here," I point to the bowl I just set down. "The girls with pick a name and then those two will go in the closet," this time I point to the front closet that I never use. "Okay, who's going first?"

I look around at everyone before I see Rachel smiling at me mischievously. "We decided before you came over here that you're going first since it's your birthday party."

I sigh and shake my head at this. "Of course you did. It's also James' party too."

"Yeah and James would have gone first if the guys were picking," Carlos adds from where he's sitting next to Rachel.

I sigh before I angrily reach into the bowl. I hated going first at these games because everyone pays attention to you when you're first. At least if you go later on, people start to lose their interest. I dig around in the bowl for a couple seconds before finally deciding on a piece of paper. When I pull the paper out and read the name on it, I can't help the blush that creeps over my face. Well, I managed to get the one guy I would be okay with but I'm also not okay with.

"Who is it, Lauren?" Rachel asks me and I can tell by her smile that she knows who it is based on my reaction.

I look back down at the name on the paper before looking up at James. There is no way this is going to end well for me. I'm way too awkward with these things and I'm especially awkward around James. "Oh, um, it's James."

James smiles at me as he stands up and walks over to me. His smile doesn't quite reach his eyes and I try to figure out what emotion is going through him but I can't figure it out. He holds a hand out to me and I hesitantly take it, my heart starting to race as I realize I'm about to be trapped in a small closet for seven minutes with the guy I have a huge crush on. "Shall we?"

I nod my head lightly as he starts leading me over to the closet. Looking back over my shoulder, Rachel is smirking at me and wiggling her eyebrows at me like an idiot, suggesting that something was about to happen. Carlos next to her is giving me a thumbs up.

I shake my head at my two ridiculous best friends before turning back to James. He pauses in front of the closet and lets go of my hand to open the closet door before walking in. I take a deep breath before following him into the tight space as one of the Jennifers closes the door behind us and yells, "Seven minutes," before walking away giggling.

I sigh lightly as I lean against the back wall and slide down until I'm sitting on the floor. James sits down next to me and I'm glad that there isn't much light in here so he can't see how red my face is. He looks over at me and I can barely see him smiling at me in the faint light. "So are you having fun tonight?"

I smile at him and shrug. "Yeah I am. It's really nice to be able to see some of my old friends. But right now, I'm kind of wishing I didn't let the Jennifers talk me into playing this game." He looks over at me confused and I realize that I messed up and he probably thinks I don't want to be in here with him. I start stuttering as I try to fix my mistake. "I mean, not that I don't mind spending time with you. I, uh, just think this game is stupid in general."

I can see him start smirking a little. "I don't think it's that stupid."

I sigh and lean my head against the wall, not happy with his answer. Sometimes I forget that I'm crushing on the biggest flirt of the Palmwoods and he probably loves party games like this. "You would say that. You probably wanted to make out with some random girl."

"I don't want to 'make out with some random girl'," he says and uses his hands to jokingly make air quotes as he mocks me a little. I turn and look over at him with a raised eyebrow before he gets serious. "There's only one girl that I want to kiss."

My heart starts racing at that comment from him and I have to try to tell myself to calm down because it's unlikely that he means me. There are so many pretty girls at the party tonight, so why would he settle for me when he's James Diamond? But I can't help but start to hope that maybe, just maybe he'll say it's me. That all of those moments between us where I could feel the tension were real and not something that I just imagined.

But I turn away from him, not wanting to be looking at him when he responds to what I ask because I don't want him to see the disappointment and heartbreak on my face when the answer isn't me. "Who?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Alright here it is, we get to see what James' response is going to be! Enjoy this chapter and please review!**

* * *

 **Chapter 11:**

"Who?"

James doesn't respond to my question right away and I stare at the wall, trying not to get upset by the lack of an answer. Him not saying anything pretty much is an answer, but it's not the one I wanted to here. I try not to let myself cry as I feel my eyes starting to water as I stare at the wall, very aware of his presence next to me.

I feel a hand gently under my chin and jump a little as James turns my head to face him. His face is only inches away from mine and I stare into his eyes, trying to figure out what he's thinking of as I watch so many emotions pass over his face. As I continue looking at him, I can feel the sadness slipping away and getting replaced with a deep desire to kiss him.

We stay that way, staring at each other for a few seconds before he finally answers my question. "You," he whispers as he glances down at my lips before closing the short distance between us. My breath catches as I feel his lips against mine and I close my eyes, kissing him back as I put my arms around his neck. I can feel him start smiling as I put my arms around him and I start smiling too before he pulls away briefly, leaving only a couple inches between us. "I've wanted to do that for so long."

I pull his head back to mine and kiss him, running my hands through his hair as our lips move together. His hands move around my waist and he pulls me closer, eliminating any distance between our bodies.

After a minute, we pull apart to catch our breaths and I can't help but start smiling at him. He gently brushes a piece of hair out of my face as he smiles at me. "I finally figured out who your song is about."

I laugh lightly at this. It's a good thing he had figured it out at this point, otherwise being in here with him would not have turned out the way it did and I would have been left with saying something to him. I can't help but smile as I think about kissing him and I play with his hair a little bit, so happy right now. "Well it's about time."

"Well, I thought I had it figured out two days ago, but then a little birdie confirmed it for me…" he trails off, unsure if he should say who it was in case I get mad at who it was.

"Carlos," we both say at the same time and look at each other for a second before bursting out into laughter. It's really not a surprise that he was the one who confirmed the song was about James, seeing as he's best friends with both of us.

James places a hand on my cheek and I lean against it as I smile at him. "So once I knew for sure the song was about me, I just had to find the right time to tell you. But I've wanted to tell you how I feel for a while now."

I look at him a bit confused at this and deep down a little annoyed that he hadn't said anything sooner because I was starting to get to the point where I couldn't take not knowing how he felt anymore. "Why didn't you?"

He sighs at this before he smiles and shrugs a little. "I was intimidated by you. I have never felt this way towards a girl before and I didn't know what to do. For the first time ever, I was afraid to tell a girl how I feel."

I start smiling at this and lean in to give him a quick kiss. "And how do you feel?" I ask him, just wanting to hear him say it out loud, even though I know from his actions.

James smirks as he leans his face a little closer to mine, knowing exactly what I'm doing. "That I am absolutely, head over heels crazy about you." He kisses me again with a sense of urgency and I know he's thinking that we're almost out of time. I kiss him back, not quite ready to have to leave here and face everyone else when I really just want to be wrapped up in his arms and kissing him all night.

He pulls away and I give him a confused look at why he stopped kissing me and he chuckles at the look I give him. "Sorry, I would love to keep kissing you, but I have to ask you something before we run out of time. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course, James," I reply, not being able to control the huge smile on my face before I embrace him. This could not have worked out better for me, having to go in the closet with James for this game. And finally he knew how I felt and I got to hear it from him that he feels the same way about me.

The door bursts open and I pull away from James to see Carlos and Rachel both standing there and their faces immediately show disappointment when they don't see use in the middle of kissing. "Really?" Rachel says as we stand up and walk out of the closet. "All you did was hug each other? What else did you do in there, knit a scarf?"

I look up at James and see him smirking at me and I know he's up for being troublesome with me. I quickly wink at him before responding to Rachel. "No, we didn't just hug each other. We also did this." I turn towards James and put both hands on his face to pull him down closer to my height and lean in and kiss him. I can hear people start cheering as I feel James smile against my lips.

I pull away from him and he's smirking at me as he chuckles. "That was pleasantly unexpected." He reaches for my hand and intertwines it with mine and I look down and smile at our hands together.

I look over at Rachel and Carlos who are both standing there with huge smiles on their faces. I point at Carlos and raise my eyebrows at him. "I'm never telling you anything again."

He laughs at this and gives me a look that says he knows I'll keep telling him stuff. Rachel is still excited about me and James and practically shouts at me in excitement. "I knew he likes you. I told you so and you didn't want to listen to me!"

I shake my head at this while smiling at her. "Yeah I know, I need to listen to you more often." I start walking back to James' seat, still holding his hand and swinging it back and forth happily. "But now, let's continue the game."

James sits down on the couch and before I can sit next to him, he pulls me onto his lap and wraps his arms tightly around my waist. I can't help but giggle a little at the attention he's showing because it's making me so happy right now and it's what I've wanted to happen since I first met him. I turn around to look back at him. "What was that for?"

He smiles before kissing me on the cheek and I blush a little. "Just showing my girlfriend the affection that she deserves."

I'm smiling at this as I look back over at Rachel and Carlos as they're sitting back down. They both look very happy at the fact that James and I have finally told each other how we feel. But I then remember how Rachel made me pick first for the game and decide she needs to go now. "Rachel, you're next."

She laughs as she jumps off the other couch and walks over to the bowl. "I already figured you were going to make me go next." She doesn't spend as much time as I did picking a name and grabs one of the first pieces of paper. She raises an eyebrow as she reads the name before looking up at Carlos and winking at him. "Let's go, Carlos."

His jaw drops open in surprise but then he quickly leaps off the couch and pats the helmet on his head. He runs over to the closet screaming in excitement and Rachel follows after him, laughing at his eagerness to be in the closet with her.

I lean my head back on James' shoulder and chuckle a little at how crazy my two best friends are. I think about how they act towards each other and start wondering if maybe they were catching feelings towards each other. "Hey James, five bucks they're going to end up kissing."

"Deal," he replies right away before kissing the top of my head and he pulls me closer to him. "I don't think they will."

We sit and talk with Lucy and Kendall next to us while waiting for the seven minutes to pass. Even though Kendall has his arm around Lucy, I can see him almost look a little disappointed every time he looks over at me and James and I can't help but wonder if it's because he still wishes we would have dated. I try not to let this bother me and ruin my night so I pay attention to James and how his arms are still around me.

After the seven minutes are up, Camille walks over to the door and sure enough when she opens it, Rachel and Carlos are kissing each other. I laugh in victory as I turn around to look at James. "Ha, I was right!" I poke him lightly on his chest. "You sir, now owe me five bucks."

He leans a little closer to me and I can see him looking at my lips as he flirtatiously smiles at me. "How about I pay you in a different way?" He kisses me then and I start laughing when he pulls away, keeping his forehead resting against mine.

"I think I'm okay with this payment. But you haven't fully paid me yet." I lean back towards him and kiss him again. I quickly pull away before he can deepen the kiss, still aware that we're surrounded by our friends and not wanting to make out with him in front of everyone. I can't help but smile at him as I think about the fact that he's now my boyfriend and it's amazing to call him that. This night is turning out to be amazing and it's just begun.

* * *

As I wake up, I keep my eyes shut against the light that's coming in my room and snuggle closer to my pillow. While trying to fall back asleep, I start thinking about how James is now my boyfriend and I can't help but start smiling. I run my hand down the length of my pillow as I move closer. I sigh in content as my hand traces toned abs.

A couple seconds pass before I realize that my pillow should not have abs and I start frowning in confusion. I slowly open my eyes, not quite sure what I was going to find. As I squint my eyes against the sun, I can feel the headache starting to form from drinking last night. But I also see that what I thought had been my pillow that I was cuddling with was actually the shirtless chest of James.

He's still sound asleep as I move away from him, my heart starting to race in panic as I try to remember what happened last night because I do not remember him getting in my bed. I remember being in the closet with James and him asking me to be his girlfriend. After that, I know I had a few more drinks as we finished the game and we danced with people. But after that, I have no more memories about last night.

I sit up and as my blanket falls away from me, I realize I'm naked and I glance down at James and see that the blanket is sitting low enough on his hips that I can tell he's also naked. At this point, I'm starting to hyperventilate and I jump out of my bed, needing to get clothes on and figure out what happened between me and James. I quickly get a t-shirt and sweatpants on before I start pacing around my room and mumbling to myself as I look over at James still sleeping peacefully, unaware of the panic attack that I'm having. "Oh god, what happened last night? I'm never drinking again."

I jump when I hear a buzzing coming from my dresser and I run over to my phone. I see that it's Kelly calling and I feel a little relieved because she can probably help me figure things out. "Hello?"

"Lauren, where are you?" I pull my phone away from my phone as she starts yelling and I wince at the pounding in my head. "You're supposed to be in the studio and I don't think I can keep Gustavo from getting angry for much longer."

"Well I just woke up and I'm freaking out a little bit because I can't remember what happened." I sit down on the edge of my bed as the panic continues to get worse."

I can hear a door close over the phone before she speaks again in a calmer voice. "Okay, relax. I'm sure nothing bad happened."

I look over at James and I hesitate to answer her. As I stare at him, I wonder if we really did go all the way last night or if nothing really happened. I finally respond to Kelly after a minute, "I wouldn't be so confident about that."

She sighs at this. "What's wrong now?"

I start stuttering, trying to figure out how to explain to her that one of the guys she works with is currently naked in my bed. "James," is all I can eventually say to her.

"James?" she asks and I can tell that she's confused. "What about him?"

I laugh nervously at this. "Well he's currently sleeping in my bed right now. And he's naked."

She doesn't respond right away, but I can hear an elevator door ding as she sighs. "Okay, I'm going to be over there in a little bit to help you sort things out. And you need to try talking to James, okay? Figure out what happened with him."

"Please hurry," I say before I hang up my phone. I get up and place it back on my dresser before walking back over to my bed. I lay down next to James, trying not to think about what might have happened last night between us because I know I'll start panicking again. But as I look at him, I can't help but smile because he looks so cute as he's sleeping with his hair slightly tussled and a small smile turning up the corners of his lips.

I run my hand lightly up and down his abs, not being able to help admiring how toned they are. I really am lucky to now being able to call this attractive man my boyfriend. After a few seconds of doing this, he grabs my hand and brings it up to his lips and kisses the back of it. He smiles and tightly holds on to my hand as he keeps his eyes closed.

"Morning," I say quietly, feeling knots in my stomach now that he is awake and I'm about to find out what happened last night.

"Hello, beautiful," he says and I can't help but smile at his comment. "You know, I had the craziest dream about us after the party." He's still smiling as he opens his eyes and first looks at me. But as he looks around and realizes he's in my room, the smile quickly fades from his face. "That really happened?" he asks, slightly shocked.

All I can do is shrug my shoulders at him, not quite sure what he's talking about but having a gut feeling about it. My voice is shaky as I respond to him. "I don't know, James. I can't remember what happened last night so you tell me."

He shakes his head as he covers his eyes with his arm and I can see him frowning. "Oh my god, I can't believe that actually happened. I'm so sorry, Lauren."

I'm surprised by his tone of voice and how upset he sounds. "James, what happened last night?" I ask him, wanting to confirm what he's pretty much said by his reaction when he woke up. He just shakes his head and lays there, not answering me. I sigh before moving his arm away from his face and with my other hand, I turn his face so he has to look at me. As I stare into his eyes, I see the anguish there and know the answer to my question before I even ask. "We had sex last night, didn't we?"

James nods his head and my breath catches in my throat. This was the answer that I had feared and he can tell I'm upset by his response because he quickly grabs my hands. "I'm so sorry, Lauren. We were both drunk and not in full control of our actions. I tried to not let it happen but you were kind of throwing yourself at me which made it really hard for drunk me to not agree."

I let go of his hands as I sigh and lean back against my pillow, covering my face with my hands. I mumble to myself as I try to process what this means. "My first time and I don't even remember."

"If it makes you feel any better, that was my first time too and I don't entirely remember what happened either." He sighs when I don't respond to him and I can feel the bed shift as he moves closer to me. "Lauren, look at me." When I shake my head no at him and don't move, I can hear him sigh before he grabs my hands and pulls them away. Now that I'm forced to look at him, I can tell that he's genuinely upset about this situation and how it's making me feel. "I'm sorry that it happened like this. But I can't go back and change the past, so we're just going to have to live with it."

"I know," I say and sigh, before shrugging at him, knowing that I need to move on and get over being upset about this because like James said, we can't change what happened. "Well, at least it was with you and not some random guy." I pause as a thought hits me and I'm honestly surprised it wasn't the first things I thought of after seeing James naked in my bed. "Um, James?"

"Yeah?" he asks and starts smiling as he sees me get uncomfortable. You know, someday that's going to make me really angry but for now, I just like seeing him smiling at me.

"Did you, um, use a…" I stutter and stop talking as I feel my cheeks turning bright red in embarrassment. I can see in his eyes that he wants to start laughing at my reaction and I can't help but hope that someday soon I don't get so awkward around him.

"Use a what?" he asks with a chuckle as he smiles at me, encouraging me to finish my question.

I scrunch my face up, super uncomfortable as I try to look anywhere other than his face before finally finishing my question. "Um, a condom?" James bursts out laughing at me at this point, no longer being able to hold it in over how reluctant I was to ask him. I frown as I lightly hit him on the arm, starting to feel offended that he's laughing at me over asking him something really important. "It's not funny, James!"

He stops laughing at this and looks at me, suddenly serious as he holds on to my hands a bit tighter. "You're right, it's not funny. But to answer your question, yes I did use one. Drunk me at least still knows that it's important to use a condom."

"Okay, good," I say before I lean against his shoulder, feeling better now that I know I don't have to worry about possibly getting pregnant because we were drunk and stupid. That's the last thing I need right now as my career is just beginning. James wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer to his chest. I sigh in contentment at being so close to him and just lay there for a few minutes feeling his chest move as he breaths under me, not feeling a need to say anything to him.

After a few minutes of just thinking about how lucky I am to finally be able to call James my boyfriend, I start thinking about the party and I realize that besides having sex with James, there's a lot of other stuff that I probably don't remember from getting drunk. "Anything else that happened at the party last night that I should know about?"

I feel him tense up and I look up at him to see his face scrunched up. Oh boy, this is not going to be good if it's making him react this way. "Well, we played spin the bottle at one point. You had to kiss Carlos and both of you were so drunk that I think if Rachel and I hadn't pulled you two apart after a couple seconds, you would have started making out with each other."

I lift my head off his chest and raise an eyebrow at him in disbelief that drunk me would want to kiss Carlos because right now I'm grossed out about the idea of kissing my best friend. "You've got to be kidding me."

James shakes his head at this and I groan, swearing to never get drunk again. "That's not all," he adds and I raise both eyebrows at him, wondering what he could possibly tell me that would top me trying to make out with my best friend. "Later on we played truth or dare and you decided to pick dare, which was really not a good idea. So the Jennifers dared you to give Logan a lap dance."

The look on his face shows that he's very jealous about this and I sigh as I put my head back down his chest. Yeah I was wrong, that definitely tops me kissing Carlos. "Those are both so embarrassing. Hopefully they were both as drunk as me and don't remember that happening."

James chuckles a little at this and I can feel his chest shake under me as I start tracing the lines of his defined muscles on his chest. "Most likely. Just try not to do that again because I might end up punching them in a rage of jealousy." He quickly grabs my hand that's feeling his muscles and pulls it away from his chest. "Now stop doing that because you're making me want to kiss you and not let you leave this bed."

I laugh lightly at this before starting to think about what he said. I can feel my cheeks heating up as I imagine him kissing me and taking control and I'm almost tempted to take my hand out of his and resume touching his chest. But at that point, he intertwines his fingers with my and brings my hand up to his lips and starts kissing each finger and any desire I had towards him fades away with him being gentle and sweet. When he starts running a hand through my hair, I sigh happily and content myself to simply being wrapped up in his arms.

A few minutes pass of us being like this until he stops running a hand over my hair and I glance up at him, seeing him look a little concerned. "Hey Lauren?"

As I look at him and can't figure out what he's thinking about, my brow furrows in concern. "Yes?"

"This won't affect you being my girlfriend, will it?" He asks timidly and I'm surprised at how nervous he seems since it's so unusual for him to not be confident with everything he does.

I start to smile at him being so concerned about us dating, my heart racing in excitement that he cares so much about me as I lean up and kiss him. When I pull away, he's smiling at me and I really start to wonder how I got to be so lucky with him. "Does that answer your question?"

"Yes. Yes it does," he says before grabbing my face and pulling it towards him again. He takes control and I'm surprised at the sudden change from our earlier kisses. He rolls us over so that he's hovering over me as I let him force his tongue into my mouth. I thought the earlier kisses with him being gentle were great but this, with him taking control, now this was amazing.

As he starts trailing kisses down my neck, I sigh, feeling conflicted about wanting to continue kissing him and knowing that we should stop since Kelly will be here very soon. "James," I say and he makes a noise acknowledging me but doesn't stop kissing me as he moves down to my collarbone. Yeah I definitely needed to stop this soon or there was no way we were leaving my bed today. "James, we need to stop."

This makes James pause and he looks up at me frowning. "Why do we need to stop? I think we should definitely continue." He kisses my neck to emphasis is point and I can feel myself starting to lose the little bit of resistance I have towards him right now.

I put my hands on his shoulders and push him back enough so that he stops kissing my neck and he looks up at me, giving me a sad look and tries to use his eyes to get me to continue kissing him. "Oh don't you dare give me that look. I'm just trying to make sure that Kelly doesn't walk in on us in a situation that she shouldn't see."

James just sighs at this before he moves away from me and jumps out of bed. My eyes widen when I see him walking around my room so casual for being completely naked. I cover my eyes as my face starts heating up. "James! Give me some warning next time!"

He laughs at this and I can hear him moving around my room while grabbing his clothes. "Come on, Lauren, it's nothing you haven't seen before."

"But I was drunk then and don't remember!" I say and his answer is just a chuckle. But I do peek through my fingers briefly and damn, does that boy have a nice ass. I quickly hide behind my hand again as he puts on his clothes, not wanting him to know that I was looking at him. A minute passes and I start to get impatient. "Are you done yet?"

James doesn't respond to me right away but I soon feel his breath against my ear. "Why don't you look and see for yourself?" His tone of voice makes me swallow and try to calm down as he makes me want to jump him and kiss him all day.

I slowly move my hand and look at him, expecting him to still be at least partially naked. But I see that he's fully clothed and is smirking at me, his face only inches from mine. "You're terrible," I say and shake my head at him but I can't help but smile at him as I move away from him to get off my bed. James is laughing as I walk over to him and grab his hands. "You're lucky you are cute."

James uses my hands in his to pull me up against him before leaning down to kiss me. Compared to our kisses a couple minutes ago, this one is sweet and not rushed. When he pulls away after a few seconds, he's smiling down at me as he presses his forehead to mine. "I think I'm luckier that I'm dating you."

I blush at this before kissing him quickly and stepping back, holding on to one of his hands as I start walking backwards towards the door. "Come on, let's go see how trashed my apartment is."

As we walk out of my room, I swing his hand in mine. When we enter the main area, I'm surprised that my apartment isn't too much of a mess. There are cups everywhere and food scattered across the floor but for a party like we had, that's normal. I catch sight of where the guys are sleeping and I can't help but laugh. Carlos is on the kitchen counter and is surrounded by cups. Kendall is half on the couch, his head hanging on the ground. And Logan is just sleeping in the middle of the floor.

I walk over to Carlos as James heads over to Kendall to wake him up. I gently shake Carlos and he jumps up, knocking over a bunch of cups before he groans and holds his head as the hangover hits him. "Morning, sleepy head."

Carlos just glares at me as James wakes up Logan. Kendall looks at his phone with a panicked look and start calling someone right away. I give him a confused look as Rachel walks out of her room. Once I realize Kendall is just calling his mom, I pay attention to Rachel as she stretches her arms above her head as she yawns. "That was some party last night," she pauses and smirks at me. "I know some people sure had fun."

I give her a look asking what she means and she pulls out her phone and starts typing. Sure enough, I feel my phone vibrate when she's done typing and I look at the text from her. _I could totally hear you and James last night._

My jaw drops open after I read her text and she bursts out laughing at my reaction. The guys all give her a confused look and she just shakes her head at them. "Oh nothing, nothing."

Rachel turns back to her phone and keeps looking up at me so I wait for another text from her. James comes over to me and wraps his arms around me as my phone buzzes. "So when is Kelly going to be here?"

I look up at him before reading Rachel's text. "Hmm? Oh, probably any minute now."

I try to turn back to my phone as the guys walk over to us but Kendall starts speaking and I can't read the text yet. "So are you two dating now?" I look over to Kendall and I can see a little bit of sadness on his face.

I try to ignore that look from him and I turn around to look at James and see him smiling down at me. "Yeah, we are."

I turn back around to my phone and finally read the text from Rachel. _Btw, nice hickey._ I clutch my hands to my neck as I start walking quickly back to my room. "I'll be right back, just have to go to the bathroom," I shout to the guys as I run into my room and over to my bathroom. I stare into my mirror and my eyes widen at the very large hickey on my neck. Grabbing my makeup, I try to start covering it up as I mumble to myself. "Oh god, why didn't James say anything to me?"

"Why didn't I say what?" James asks and I jump, not having realized that he followed me into my room."

I glance at him in the mirror and raise my eyebrows at him as I point to my neck. "Why didn't you say anything about this?"

He starts stuttering as his face turns read and he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "Oh, um, well, I-" he's cut off by the sound of Kelly entering the apartment.

I turn around and point at him. "You're lucky that Kelly is here." I glance back in the mirror and look at my makeup. "Oh well, that's going to have to do. Let's go."

I walk past him out of my bathroom and he quickly catches up so that he can grab on to my hand as we enter the main area of the apartment. I smile up at him before looking over at Kelly.

"There you are," she says and looks at me and James. She raises an eyebrow when she sees that we're holding hands. "Is everything fine?"

"Everything is great," I say as a smile at her while I squeeze James hand and he does the same thing in return.

Kelly starts smiling at us. "Okay, good. Now, I told your uncle that you weren't feeling well today and that's why you couldn't make it today. But he's going to expect you to be in the studio tomorrow."

I let go of James' hand to run up and hug her. "Thank you so much!" I let go of her and give her a big smile as I'm about to ask a huge favor of her and would really like for her to say yes. "Now, can you please help us clean up around here?"

She sighs but I can see her start to smile at me as she shakes her head. "When am I going to be done helping you get out of your messes?"

I laugh at this and shrug as she starts to gather garbage up while I walk to the kitchen to grab bags to throw everything in. "Probably never. You've already done it for most of my life, so why stop now?"

The guys laugh at this as we start cleaning up the mess in my apartment. A majority of the time is spent with Rachel, Kelly, and I having to yell at the guys to stop fooling around and help us. By time we finish, it's already almost 5. As Kelly starts to leave, I stop her and hug her again. "Thanks so much for helping us."

"Oh it's no problem," she says and lets go of me, smiling. "Now, I'll see you tomorrow at 10 and you better not be late because I don't think I can calm Gustavo down again."

"Got it," I say as she walks out the door.

The guys are also starting to head towards the door and I give them a confused look. Kendall decides to answer for all of them. "We would love to stay, Lauren, but my mom really wants us home now."

James waits behind as the others start to leave and I wave bye to them. "Alright I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Rachel has gone over to the couch as James walks up to me and I appreciate her giving us some space. He hugs me tightly and holds me against his chest for a minute. "Tomorrow after you're done at the studio, we're going on a date, okay?"

I pull away from him enough that I can look up at him while still in his arms. I can't help but smile at him as I put my arms around his neck, excited about getting to go on my first date with him. "I can't wait," I whisper before standing on my toes to kiss him.

James keeps the kiss short and I'm almost glad he does because I learned earlier how easy it is for us to get distracted while kissing and I did not feel like making out with him in front of Rachel. James smiles at me before letting go of me. "Bye Lauren," he says before heading towards the door.

"Bye James," I say before the door closes behind him and I can't help but smile as I walk over to the couch. Life is just finally going great right now with James and I'm just so happy right now that we're dating.

As I sit down next to Rachel, she turns to me excitedly and claps her hands. "Details, now!"

"About what?" I ask her, a little sidetracked from thinking about James and imagining different scenarios for our date tomorrow.

She smacks me lightly on the arm at this in annoyance. "You know exactly what I'm talking about! What happened with you and James in your room?"

"Oh, that," I say and chuckle at the look she gives me like she's about to punch me over how oblivious I'm being. "Well, I can't really give you any details because I don't even remember what happened. "

She starts frowning at this and I'm not sure if it's because she feels bad that I don't have any memories or if she's upset that I can't give her details. Probably a combination of both. "But did you and James talk about what happened?"

I sigh before responding, still not exactly happy with what did go down. "Yes, we did. And apparently we had sex."

Rachel squeals in excitement at this and I can't help but shake my head a bit at her reaction. "Really?" I nod my head in confirmation and she claps her hands excitedly. "Omg, finally it happened. But it's too bad you can't remember, I bet he looks really hot naked."

"Rachel!" I yell and slap her on the arm. She's always been one to not filter what she says and as I think about it, I remember glancing at James while he got dressed and my cheeks start heating up at the memory of how nice he looked.

Rachel doesn't seem to notice this as she's too busy laughing and I'm happy she isn't aware because she would have asked for an explanation. She finally calms down enough to talk again. "You know I'm only messing with you."

"Of course," I say but as she continues laughing, I continue thinking about what happened between me and James. I can't help but feel some regret over how my first time having sex happened. Yet as I sit here, it doesn't feel like that big of a deal anymore. As long as it doesn't affect my future relationship with James, I'm willing to overlook this and move past it. And I can only hope that he feels the same way.


	12. Chapter 12

**So this chapter is a bit of a filler chapter but there is a lot of cute stuff with James and Lauren so maybe you won't find it boring. I might just find it boring because I've read it so many times. Like always, enjoy and please review!**

* * *

 **Chapter 12:**

"So L-dog, my boss Griffin called yesterday to tell me what he wants for your next song," my uncle says as soon as he sees me enter the studio. "So he wants a song that's about partying and it has the word Friday in it."

I raise an eyebrow at him as I drop my purse on the couch and sit down. "And I'm guessing you already have a song written?"

Kelly passes a pile of music to me as my uncle crosses his arms. "We're going to run through this song a couple times until it is perfect so get in the studio."

As I walk over to the recording booth, I can't help but question what my uncle was thinking when he wrote it. I mean, who thinks that a song with lyrics like 'It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday' is going to be a hit song? But I don't say anything as I enter the booth and put on headphones, knowing it would be a bad idea since my uncle gets so offended when anyone says something bad about his song.

Gustavo starts playing the music and I can't help but cringe a little as I start singing. "Seven A.M. waking up in the morning. Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs." As I continue singing this terrible song, I notice my uncle's expression turning to one of pain and he stops the song before I even get halfway through it.

I raise my eyebrows at him as I cross my arms. "That is one of the worst songs you have ever written."

"I know that!" he shouts at me and I raise my hands defensively at his outburst. "So help me write a good song! Sparks Fly was a great song and everyone has loved it so help me write this song for Griffin!"

I sigh as I take my headphones off and walk over to him. I lean against the wall as I cross my arms, knowing this is going to be a long and tiring process working with him. "So what do you think about when you hear Friday?"

"Nothing, it's just another day off the week," he says and as I raise an eyebrow at him he starts getting confused. "Am I supposed to think about something else?"

"Yes! This is why you can't write a good song about partying with the word Friday in it." I shake my head at him, wondering how he has had any good songs when he never goes out and does anything. "When I think about Friday," I start saying as I think back to what happened this past Friday and how much fun it was. "I think about having fun and going out partying with my friends. And also how you sometimes want to have those parties where you can't remember what happens because it's a blacked-out blur, but you're pretty sure the party was still awesome."

"What else happens at parties?" he asks as he grabs a pad of paper and starts writing things down. He pauses writing to look up at me confused. "And how do you know all this?"

"Personal experience," I respond and when I see him starting to get protective of me drinking underage, I point a finger at him and he gets shocked. "And don't you dare tell my parents about this or I will never write a song for you again." My uncle raises his hands up and shrugs, telling me that he won't mention it to them. "Now about parties. Basically they're about just having a good time, doing some crazy things, maybe kissing someone you wouldn't normally. And even if the last party is crazy, you still can't help but look forward to the next time you party."

My uncle stares off at the wall before he turns back to me, his face lit up in excitement as he jumps up. "I've got the song! It'll be called 'Last Friday Night'. Now let's get this song written."

* * *

As I leave Rocque Records, I can't help but smile in happiness over the song that my uncle and I just got done writing and recording. It's super catchy and I'm sure it can become a hit. As I hop in my car and start it to head back to the Palmwoods, I get a text from James and I smile as I read it, excited to be able to go on my first date with him now. _Meet me at the Palmwoods Park when you get back._

I send him a quick text in response that I would before turning on the radio and I scream a bit in excitement when I hear Sparks Fly playing. I immediately roll down my windows and turn the volume all the way up as I start singing along, wanting people to be able to hear it as I drive back the short distance to the Palmwoods. When I park, I stay in my car to finish listening to the song. After it's over, I'm about to turn off the car but stop when I hear Ryan Seacrest talking about the song. "Alright so what you just heard is Sparks Fly by upcoming artist Lauren Rocque. She's starting to make a name for herself in the music business as well as the acting world. I saw her perform last week when she opened for Big Time Rush and let me just say, she's going to be one to watch."

The next song starts playing and I turn off my car, smiling at what I just heard on the radio. I skip happily into the lobby and Bitters glares at me but I ignore it as I head out towards the pool and to the park. Once there, I start looking around for James and find him around the same secluded area that we had taken Kendall to set him up with Lucy. He has a blanket set up with a picnic and I can't help but smile as I walk up to him. "Is this our date?"

He smiles as he wraps his arms around my waist. "Part of it," he replies before kissing me.

I smile up at him as he pulls away. "Then let's enjoy this nice picnic," I say as I sit down with him. He keeps one arm around my waist as he starts pulling food out of the basket and hands me a sandwich. I take a bite before leaning against his shoulder, feeling happy and content next to him.

"So how was everything at the studio?" James ask once he has his own sandwich.

"Good," I reply before taking another bite of my sandwich. "I helped my uncle write a song since he couldn't write a song for Griffin about partying and with the word Friday."

James laughs at this and I can feel his shoulder shake. He leans back on the arm not wrapped around me. "That's not the first time that has happened to him." We sit in a comfortable silence for a couple minutes while we eat our food. I can't help but be glad that we feel comfortable enough around each other that we don't feel the need to constantly be talking. "You know, I really like your friends from the movie that were at the party."

"Yeah they're all great," I say as I start thinking about filming the movie and all of the memories we made. "We're on big happy family."

"Jack actually told me that he thinks of you as a sister."

He leans back and pulls me with him so that I'm lying next to him on the blanket and I curl up next to him. "I forgot that you were talking to him. He didn't tell you any embarrassing stories, did he?"

"No," he says and I lift my head up to look at him and see him trying to hide a smile. "Okay just a couple. Like the one time people stole your clothes while in the shower and you chased after them through the hotel wearing only a towel." I groan at the memory of that time and James starts laughing at my reaction. It was one of the very rare times that I was actually angry with my friends. "But, he also told me about how badass you were when you were filming the fight scenes."

"Yeah that's right," I say as I poke him in the stomach. "So don't you dare mess with me."

He grabs my hand that was poking him as he laughs at this. "I wouldn't dream of it," he says as I stare at him while he's looking up at the trees. I run my other hand along the side of his face and hold it there, briefly mesmerized at how attractive he is. He looks over at me at this action before running a hand through my hair and pulling me towards him and kissing me. I smile against his lips as he moves back, smiling up at me. "So do you like your date so far?"

As I lay my head down on his chest, I pull him closer to me and he tightens his arms around me. "I would be happy with any date as long as it was with you." We stay like that for a while and I'm happy just to be in his arms. I start thinking about everything that's coming up lately and pick up my head to look at him. "So the premiere for The Hunger Games is in just over a month. Would you like to go with me as my date?"

"I would love to," he responds right away. "There's no way I would missing seeing you on the big screen." James kisses the top of my head before sitting up, pulling me up with him as I give him a confused look. "Time for part two of your date."

I help him pack up the stuff for the picnic, wondering what he could have planned for us next. We start slowly making our way back to the hotel while holding hands and I decide to ask and see if maybe he'll tell me. "So do I get to know what this next part of our date is?"

He glances over at me and smirks as we enter the lobby. "Nope, it's a surprise. But I can tell you that you're going back to your place and Rachel is allowed to give you selective details while you are getting ready."

I smile up at him as we wait for the elevator. "I can live with that." I pause as we step onto the elevator and he presses the buttons for our floors. "You're lucky I like surprises."

"I'm more than lucky for just that reason," he smirks at me as the door opens on his floor and he kisses me quickly before leaving and turning around to look at me. "I'll see you in a little bit."

"Bye James," I say as the doors close in front of him. As the elevator moves up to my floor, I can't help but smile as the doors open and I make my way over to my apartment.

As soon as I open my door, Rachel runs up to me and starts dragging me by my arm into room. "Finally you're back. We have a lot to do before you leave."

We walk in my room and I see on my bed is the new dress that Carlos bought for my birthday. I raise an eyebrow at it since it's a bit fancier and it makes me question even more what James has planned for later. "Am I wearing that dress later?"

"Yes, you are," she replies as she pushes me towards my bed before she starts heading towards my bathroom. "Get changed while I start getting your makeup ready for you."

I quickly change out of my clothes and carefully put on the delicate lavender, satin dress. I look at it in the mirror and I can't help but be obsessed with the high-low hemline and the gems around the higher neckline. Rachel peaks her head out of the bathroom and sighs before walking over to me and once again grabbing my arm. "Did I not tell you that we have a lot to get done? Let's go," she says as she pulls me into my bathroom and points at the chair. "Sit."

I sigh at her actions but listen to her, sitting in the chair and letting her curl my hair. She's silent for a little while and I can tell that something is up but I wait for her to bring it up because I know she will. "So on Friday I have to fly to New York for fashion week and to do some things for Victoria's Secret."

I start frowning at this even though I knew eventually she was going to have to leave. But I was not prepared for how upset it would make me. "I'm going to miss you. I've had so much fun with you being here and I don't want you to leave yet." As I sit there with her finishing my hair, I think about all of the fun times I've had with her and the guys over the past couple of weeks. I don't want them to end yet. "Hey Rachel, I have an idea."

She looks at me confused as she puts hair spray on my finished hair. "What is it?"

"Well why don't you just stay with me when you get back? You were going to be looking for a new place anyways and there's more than enough room for you to live here with me." I start smiling as I think about the idea of having her always be my roommate since it was something we always talked about when we were younger but our careers are different enough that it hadn't happened yet. "You can just leave whenever you have a modeling job in New York or wherever they want to fly you to around the world."

Her face lights up with a huge smile. "Really? You'd let me stay here with you?"

"Of course, you're my best friend," I say as she gives me a huge hug.

"Lauren, thank you so much!" When she lets go of me, I can see that she is in a much better mood now that she doesn't have to worry about leaving me for who knows how long. She starts putting makeup on me and her happy mood definitely affects me and I'm smiling as she gets me ready. When she finishes, she checks her phone and chuckles. "Oh I finished just in time."

"Just in time for-" I start to ask as we walk out of my room but I hear a knock on the door. Rachel hands me a purse already packed before she runs into her room, laughing in excitement over my date with James as I walk over to the apartment door. I open it and see James standing there with his hands tucked in the pockets of his dress pants. He's dressed up in a shirt and tie and has a jacket hanging over his arm.

James takes in my appearance and starts smiling before reaching out and taking my hand and spinning me around in a circle. "You look so beautiful."

He pulls me towards him then and kisses me. As we pull apart, I laugh in happiness, having been waiting for cute moments like this between us for a couple months now. "You don't look too bad yourself."

I close the apartment door behind me and we start walking towards the elevators. He takes my hand as we wait. "Please, I don't compare to you," he says as we enter the elevator. I raise my eyebrows at this, partially in disbelief that James Diamond just said he wasn't as good looking as someone else and also because of him indirectly complimenting me.

The doors open at the lobby and we make our way through and we pass Logan and Camille who both smile at us, Camille in particular looking excited about us being together. I look up at James as we enter the parking lot. "So based on what we're wearing, I'm going to guess that we're going out to eat somewhere nice."

"That would be a pretty good guess," he replies as we get to his fancy red car. He holds the door open for me and as I get in, he quickly walks around to his side and gets in. James starts driving to our mystery date location and holds onto my hand while I stare over at him and smile at how handsome he is.

James doesn't say much during the drive until he stops in one of the nicer areas of LA that isn't a tourist trap. I look around for a restaurant but don't see any nearby and I give James a confused look as he opens my door for me and holds a hand to me. "I figured we could walk for a little bit to the restaurant since it's so nice out," he says as I take his hand and let him pull me out of the car.

We start slowly making our way down the street and I take in the sun setting. I swing James' hand in mine and I discreetly take in how amazing he looks in the sun with his hair turning almost copper in color. I see him start smirking and I know he caught me looking at him like he always seems to do. "This is already a great first date."

He smiles down happily at me. "Well I planned it, so of course it's going to be fantastic," he says sarcastically.

I chuckle a little at this and shake my head slightly at him. As we continue walking, I look around at all the many advertisements hanging around us, a lot of them for movies and TV shows. I spot a collection of posters across the street that makes me stop right in my tracks.

James continues walking and gets pulled back by my tight grip on his hand. He looks at me confused, "What's wrong, Lauren?"

I point across the street at the large posters of characters in The Hunger Games, including one of myself, before I take off running through the crosswalk to the other side and drag him along with me. James is laughing at my reaction as I stop next to the poster of myself and jump a bit in excitement. I turn around towards him and point at the poster behind me. "Look, it's me, on a poster!"

James wraps an arm around me as I turn back towards the poster and look at it. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and I look over at him, a huge grin on my face. "Come on, let's take a picture of you with it."

"Okay," I agree as he moves back a little so he can get the whole poster in the picture. I point at it and smile for the picture before he walks back over and I loop my arm through his before we continue walking. I'm still thrilled about seeing the poster as we walk and don't notice him still on his phone for a minute. He's smiling at it and I get curious. "Whatcha doing?"

James glances up at me and smiles mischievously at me. "Oh nothing," he says before finishing typing and putting his phone away. He stops us in front of an Italian restaurant named Amici's. "Alright, we're here."

He holds the door open for me and we walk in. The woman working at the front smiles when she sees us walk in and asks if we have a reservation. James is quick to respond to her, "Yes, two for Diamond please."

She checks her list before grabbing two menus and leading us to a secluded table in the back of the restaurant. James holds the chair out for me and after sitting down I glance over at the menu. I raise my eyebrows at the very high prices and start feeling bad if he wants to pay for everything. "James."

"Hmm?" he responds with an eyebrow raised, still looking down at the menu.

"These prices are really expensive," I say right to the point, wanting him to acknowledge the fact that he took me to an expensive restaurant.

He looks up at me after I say this and smiles before grabbing my hand from across the table. "I know, Lauren," he says as he squeezes my hand. "It is not a big deal so order anything you want."

"Are you sure?" I ask him hesitantly because I always feel bad when people spend a lot of money on me. But he just gives me a look saying it is okay before turning back to his menu.

"Okay then," I say as I shrug before deciding what to order. After the waiter takes our order, I lean forward and take both of James' hands and smile at him. "Thank you for this date, James."

"You're welcome, Lauren," he says as he takes one of my hands and kisses the back of it. "Expect plenty of dates like this in the future because I plan on showering you with love."

I feel my cheeks starting to heat up as I lean towards him and kiss him lightly. His comment is making me so happy that we are dating. As we pull apart, I hear my phone go off in my purse and I frown before grabbing it quickly. "I am so sorry, I thought I had the sound turned off."

I see I have a text from Rachel and I figure it must be important since she knows I'm on a date with James. _Go check twitter now_.

I look up at James confused before opening twitter. "Why is Rachel telling me to go check twitter?"

"What? I have no idea what she is talking about," he says and it's obvious that he's trying to cover something up.

I shake my head at him as I check my mentions and see there is way more than usual there. Many of them are just asking me the same thing: 'Are you and James dating?' I raise my eyebrows at this before looking up at James who is trying not to smile at me. "What did you do and why are all of these people asking me if we're dating?"

James just laughs at this and refuses to say anything. I stare him down for a minute and eventually he cracks and tells me. "Well, I sort of might have, maybe tweeted that picture I took of you next to the poster of you."

"Well that's not too bad," I say before going to his twitter account to look at what he tweet. But I'm surprised when I see what he tweeted and I read it out loud. "'Can't wait to see my girl laurenrocque in The Hunger Games next month!'" I pause to see him smirking at me, seeming so proud of what he's done. So I decide to try and mess with him by pretending to be serious and upset. "You tweeted that I'm 'your girl' without even asking me?"

James believes that I'm upset about this and almost makes me start laughing but luckily I'm a good enough actress that I can keep it together. He grabs my free hand as he frowns. "Hey, is that a problem? Because I can go delete that tweet if you want me to."

I start at him for a minute, enjoying the fact that I have him fooled. But I soon start smiling and he realizes it was a joke and shakes his head at me but he can't help but laugh a little. "Of course it isn't a problem, James. Actually, I kind of like the sound of that."

"What, you being my girl?" He asks somewhat seriously and I can tell he's wanting to know exactly what makes me happy.

"Exactly that," I respond before leaning across the table and kissing him. We pull apart and I smile a little at him. "How did I end up getting so lucky to have you as my boyfriend?"

"I ask myself that too," he pauses as I start laughing. "Well, how lucky I got to have you as my girlfriend." He starts laughing lightly at this as the waiter brings over our food and sets the plates down in front of us. James picks up his fork to start eating and takes a huge bite as I start tweeting something. "What are you doing now?"

"Just tweeting that yes, you are my boyfriend so that people stop spamming my mentions asking that," I say as I hit send and put my phone away. I look up at him and smile. "Now, let's enjoy this delicious food, shall we?"

* * *

I clutch my stomach as we walk into my apartment, feeling like my stomach is going to explode. "Ugh, I hate way too much food," I groan as I sit down on the couch.

I stretch out on the couch as James walks over and lies down next to me. He wraps his arms around me and I place my head on his shoulder. "I tried telling you that you didn't have to eat everything and we could have brought home leftovers. But you didn't want to listen to me."

"But it was so good that I couldn't leave any, even if it was going home with us." I cuddle up closer to him and smile. "It's all better now."

"And why is that?" He asks and I can hear the smile in his voice as he starts running his hand through my hair. I sigh in contentment at this, loving the feeling of having physical contact with someone.

"Because I'm lying next to probably the sweetest boyfriend ever," I say before I tilt up my head to smile at him. He leans in the short distance between us and kisses me lightly and with no rush.

"Aww, you two are so adorable," I hear Rachel say.

I pull away from James to look over her, annoyed at her interrupting us. "Rachel, can't you leave or something?"

She laughs at my reaction as she grabs her purse from the counter. "I was actually just getting ready to leave to go hang out with Carlos."

"Hey, don't go stealing my best friend!" I jokingly say as I pull myself up to look over the back of the couch at her. I glance over the clock and raise my eyebrows when I see what time it is. "Why are you going to hang out with Carlos at almost 10 at night?"

I can see the faintest hint of pink on her cheeks as she looks down smiling and I start questioning if maybe she's developing feelings towards him. "Well, him and the other guys are bored since you and James are too busy being all adorable and happy together. So they invited me over."

"Okay, well, have fun," I say as she walks over to the door and waves bye over her shoulder at me. I turn back to James and lay down on his chest, briefly wondering if anything is happening between Rachel and Carlos. But I forget about it since she would tell me about it. I listen to James' heart beating and feel the rising of his chest. The steady beat and the feeling of him rubbing his hand through my hair starts to lull me to sleep.

"Hey Lauren?" James asks quietly after a while.

"Hmm," I say, having almost been asleep.

"Do you want me to take you to your bed so you can go to sleep?" He asks me quietly and tries not to disturb me.

I shake my head and hold on to him tighter. "No, right here is comfy. Can't you just stay the night?"

James kisses the top of my head before slowly sitting up and lifting me up in his arms. I look up at him confused as he starts walking towards my room. "Of course I'll stay over but we're not sleeping on your couch." He gently sets me down on my bed before grabbing my shoes and taking them off, throwing them on to my floor.

"What are you doing James?" I ask him as he takes off his own shoes and starts undoing his belt. His actions have me wide awake and I have no idea what he's doing.

James just chuckles at this. "I'm not sleeping in my dress clothes. Now, do you still have some of my shorts and t-shirts here?" I nod and point over to one of my dressers. He grabs the clothes as I sit up and realize I should also get changed so I don't ruin the dress Carlos bought for me.

I walk over to the dresser and grab pajamas and when I turn around, James is only in his boxers. My eyes widen as I look over his bare chest and I know my face is probably bright red. I look at his face and see he's smirking at me before I take off running into my bathroom, not prepared at all to see him shirtless. Closing the door behind me, I try to take a deep breath and calm down over the sight of him shirtless. I've seen him shirtless before but this time was different because then I couldn't do anything. But now that I'm dating him, it's hard to resist the toned muscles that he has and not kiss him right then and there.

I take a deep breath before changing out of my dress and putting my pajamas on. Then I slowly open the bathroom door, hoping that he won't still be mostly naked. When I see him on the bed, fully clothed, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and open the door all the way before walking out to him. He's trying not to laugh as he smirks while I walk over to him and crawl into bed next to him.

James wraps his arms around me and pulls me close to him. I put my head on his chest and I can hear the rumble of him finally laughing at me. "So want to explain what all of that was about?"

I try to think about how to respond to him for a minute. "Basically, I was not expecting you to be shirtless and I had to try to control myself from jumping you."

I'm suddenly flipped over and James is hovering over me, pressing some of his weight on me. His face is only a couple inches above of mine and as I stare up at him, I can see desire in his eyes. My face heats up as I want him to kiss me and take control. He slowly leans down and very lightly presses his lips to mine and lingers there before rolling back over and laughing.

As I look at him, flustered by his actions I start getting a little annoyed at how he affected me so much and then didn't even keep kissing me. "What was that for?"

James just laughs as he wraps his arms around me and pulls me back towards him. "Oh nothing, just giving you a little taste of what you missed out on because you ran into the bathroom instead of just making out with me."

I shake my head at him as I put my arms around him, still feeling a little flustered about him being on top of me. I'm sure he's aware of the affect that he has on me. As I try to fall asleep, I can't help but be caught up in thoughts of James shirtless and taking control. If I didn't learn how to control myself around him soon, it is going to end up being very emotionally challenging dating James.


	13. Chapter 13

**Alright this is a fun chapter with Lauren and the guys and there's also some more romance stuff with James in here. So have fun reading and please review!**

* * *

 **Chapter 13:**

I set the heavy suitcase on the ground and close my trunk before leaning against it. As I turn to Rachel, my heart feels heavy and I can't help but frown at the idea of her leaving me for a few weeks. One look at her face shows that's she's feeling the same way. "Okay, are you sure you have everything you need?"

She pats the suitcase I just took out of my car before giving me a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "I should have everything. I didn't need to pack very much because the fashion designers will pretty much be dressing me the whole time. And I have my phone and laptop in my purse so I'm all set."

"If you say so," I shrug, knowing her and the fact that she probably forgot something. I reach into my purse and pull out two CDs and hand them to her. "Here are all of my songs so far, as per your request. It has the four songs from the concert, and then the four newer ones, New Romantics, Last Friday Night, Teenage Dream, and Dance Again." She smiles as she looks down at it. "And then there's the guys' new album. Be careful with that, it's not supposed to be out for another two weeks. If anything happens to it, I'm pretty sure my uncle with kill both of us. Also I haven't even listened to all of the songs yet."

Rachel puts them in her purse right away before throwing her arms around me in a tight hug. "Lauren, I'm going to miss you."

"I know, I'm going to miss you too," I say as I rub her back comfortingly. "But it's only for a few weeks. You're going to be so busy doing modeling stuff that the time will fly by." I step back and keep my hands on her shoulders, smiling at her to cheer her up. "Now you need to go get checked in. But I know you're going to be great."

I turn her around and give her a light push towards the door, knowing she might stand out here talking to me for hours if I don't make her go inside. She grabs her suitcase and walks to the door, pausing to turn around and wave. I wave back before she walks in, then sigh as I turn around and get back in my car. This was going to be rough not seeing her for a few weeks.

I drive out of the airport and start heading back to the Palmwoods. I don't make it very far before I'm stuck in traffic. Sighing, I open up my windows and I prop my arm on the edge of my door and rest my head on my hand, accepting the fact that I'm probably going to be here for a while. Looking around at all the billboards around me, I spot one promoting Big Time Rush and their second album. I can't help but smile when I see James' picture up there since he looks so good and it makes me so happy that I'm dating him. Although I'm still a little annoyed at him faking me out the other night and teasing me before we fell asleep. He did make up for it with lots of making out over the next couple of days so I can't stay too mad about his teasing.

As the cars move forward a little bit, I remember that I have my own copy of their new cd and pop it in the stereo right away. The first song to play is Music Sounds Better With U but I skip over it since I've heard it so many times while rehearsing for the concert and wanting to hear new stuff. The next song to play is super catchy and James' voice sounds amazing in it. As the cars stop again, I look down at the case to figure out what the title is because this song is quickly becoming one of my favorites. After I see it's called Superstar, I set the case down and turn the music up louder because it's a really good song.

I continue listening to the cd as traffic crawls and end up hearing all of the songs by the time I get back to Palmwoods. After parking and walking towards the lobby, I can't help but sigh in annoyance at having sat in traffic for over 45 minutes. I start walking through the lobby and as I pass the entrance to the pool, I pause as I see James laying there in the sun. I smile as I start walking over to him and my breath catches as I look at his bare torso and as the thought crosses through my head that he's all mine, I can't help but smirk a little.

I stand next to his lounge chair and when he hasn't noticed I'm there yet since his eyes are closed, I move over a bit so that I'm blocking the sun from hitting his face. He immediately starts frowning at this and it takes a lot of effort to not laugh and give myself away. "Excuse me, you're blocking my sun. And if you haven't noticed, it's James Diamond tanning time."

I put my hands on my hips as I wait for him to see that it's me. After a minute of me blocking the sun, he finally sighs and sits up, squinting to see who's block the sun. "Seriously, you couldn't-" He finally see it's me and his mood immediately changes. "Lauren, you're back already! Sorry, I thought you were just someone else trying to annoy me."

I chuckle at this as I sit down next to him. "I was gone for over an hour and got stuck in traffic for over 45 minutes on my way home."

His face changes to one of surprise and I laugh at this. "Really? It felt like you were gone for only 20 minutes." He joins me laughing before lying back down, pulling me with him. "Well I'm sorry that you had to wait in traffic for that long."

I lean against his chest and wrap an arm around him as I shrug. "Eh, it wasn't that bad because I finally got to listen to your second album. I have to say, it was totally awesome."

"What did you think of the song Elevate?" he asks as he picks up his head and smiles at me.

"Definitely one of my favorites," I reply immediately. "It's been stuck in my head all the time since the concert."

"Well I'm not surprised since I helped write it," he says, joking about be arrogant.

I look up at him in shock, not having been aware that any of them actually helped my uncle write songs. "You wrote that song? It's so good!"

James runs a hand through my hair and smiles. "Well I'm glad that you like it." He uses the hand in my hair to pull me closer to him and kisses me lightly. I put my arms around his neck and deepen the kiss.

"Get a room, you two!" I hear someone jokingly shout and several people start laughing.

I pull away from James and see the guys sitting on the chairs next to us. Glancing back at James, I wink at him to let him know I'm going to mess with the guys before turning back to Carlos. "Well since you're out of 2J, Mama Knight is at yoga, and Katie is with Tyler, that means the apartment is now empty. So I think we'll just go to that room." I stand up and grab James' hand to pull him up with me. As we start walking towards the lobby, James puts his arm around my waist.

Kendall quickly yells at us, "Ew, guys, we were joking!"

"See you later, Kendall!" I shout and wave over my shoulder at them. Once we're out of their sight, I start laughing hysterically.

James looks over at me as he's also laughing. "I hope you know that you're quite mischievous."

I shrug my shoulders and smile at him as we walk to the elevators. People happen to be walking out then and we step on. "Well I figured if I did that we could have some time just to ourselves." The doors open and I grab his hand as we walk onto his floor. "So Mr. Diamond, what are we going to do with an apartment all to ourselves?"

"Well Miss Rocque," he says as he opens the door to 2J and holds it for me. "I can think of plenty of things for us to do."

I walk inside and James follows me in as I walk to the couch and sit down. As he pulls me towards him, I laugh as I wrap my arms around his neck. "Oh yeah? And what do you have in mind?"

* * *

An hour later, we can barely keep watching the first Harry Potter movie because James is laughing hysterically at me knowing all of the words to the movie and trying to sound like every character. It was my attempt to sound like Snape that really made him unable to pay attention anymore. When I see James fall off the couch, I burst out laughing and clutch my side as it hurts. I lean over and help pull him back on the couch as he tries to stop laughing. "You know, I didn't believe you at first when you said you knew every line to this movie," he says once he's finally caught his breath. "But you trying to sound like the characters was hilarious."

I jokingly bow at him as I chuckle. "Thank you, thank you. I do my best to bring humor to people." I smile as he wraps an arm around my waist and I lean against his shoulder. I've never had a relationship like this before where we could be so comfortable with each other and it's an amazing feeling not having to pretend to be someone I'm not. And James has proved to be completely different from the rumors I had heard about him and is so kind to me all the time.

I hear the door creak open a little and I look over to see Carlos peeking his head in. "Hello?"

"Hey Carlos," I shout over to him and we both wave over at him.

Carlos gets a relieved look on his face when he sees us just sitting on the couch and I can't help but laugh at his reaction. He opens the door all the way and I see Kendall and Logan waiting behind him. They start walking in, Carlos leading the way. "We were worried that you were actually going to be doing something when we got back."

James laughs at this as they join us on the couch. "Nope, we just wanted to have some alone time and figured that would be a good way for you to leave us alone."

"Besides, if we really wanted to do something," I start to add and smirk before winking at James. "We could have just gone to my apartment since it's completely empty."

Logan scrunches his face at me. "Why would you even say that? I'm getting so many wrong images in my head right now."

"Dude, stop talking about this!" Kendall yells and I start laughing uncontrollably at the reactions the three of them are having.

The front door opens and we all look over to see Mama Knight standing there, flustered as she tries to hold onto two boxes of pizza. "Boys, can one of you please help me?"

Kendall immediately jumps off the couch and runs over to her. The other guys all run over to the table and I shake my head at them before heading to the kitchen to grab plates. Mrs. Knight tries to take the plates from me as I start setting the table but I don't let her. "Oh Lauren, you don't have to help out, one of the boys can do that."

I smile at her as I put the last two plates down on the table. "It's really no problem. I like helping out."

She places a hand on my shoulder and smiles back at me. "Thank you, sweetie. It's nice to have someone around here that does things to help without me asking."

"Hey, we do plenty to help out!" Carlos says offended as he finishes putting three slices of pizza on his plate.

Mrs. Knight places her hands on her hips at this and raises an eyebrow at him. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Oh you know," he says and takes a bite of pizza while trying to think of something. "Stuff!"

We all laugh at him as I sit down on the table and grab a slice of pizza. When the door opens, we all look over at Katie who walks over to the table and immediately sits down and grabs pizza. After taking a bite, she looks around the table before looking at me confused. "Where's Rachel? I figured she would be here."

I pause in the middle of eating my pizza, once again feeling upset now that I've been reminded of my best friend leaving. "Oh she had to go to New York today for fashion week and some other modeling things. But she'll be back in a few weeks."

"Cool, I'm going to try and see if she can convince some of her modeling friends to let me be their manager."

This statement makes Mrs. Knight slam her fist down on the table and all of us jump as she gives Katie a stern look. "Katie, enough with trying to manage celebrities!"

"Fine!" she yells before angrily taking a bite of her pizza. The rest of us sit there awkwardly eating our pizza, not sure if we should say anything in fear of also getting yelled at by Mrs. Knight.

Soon we finish our pizza and I help Mrs. Knight carry the dishes into the kitchen. I turn around and see that the guys have all run over to the couch and spread out, not leaving room for me. I cross my arms as I walk over. "Thanks for leaving me somewhere to sit."

I angrily sit down on the ottoman as I wait for Kendall to start whatever movie he picked for us to watch today. I can't help but be annoyed at the guys because the couch is definitely big enough for all of us to fit if they moved over but they're stubborn and that won't happen. As Kendall heads back to the couch after putting the DVD in the player, I feel a pair of arms wrap around my waist. "Hey, you don't have to sit here," James whispers into my ear and my cheeks start heating up as I can feel his breath on my neck. "You can come sit on my lap."

I let out a sigh so that the other guys know I'm still annoyed at them before willingly moving on to James lap. As I rest my head on his shoulder as he tightens his arms around me, I smile a bit because this is definitely better than just sitting on the couch next to him or on the ottoman. I whisper to James as he kisses the top of my head, "Okay, this seating is very nice." He chuckles at this and I feel his shoulders shake as I look over at Kendall starting the movie. "So what did you pick this time?"

"A new hockey documentary," Kendall replies excitedly as he relaxes against the back of the couch.

"Yes!" Carlos cheers in excitement and even Logan looks happy about this movie choice.

I groan about this movie choice, already knowing that I'm going to be bored out of my mind because I don't find hockey interesting at all. "Kendall, did you have to pick this movie?"

"Would you rather be watching a horror movie?" he asks with an eyebrow raised at me.

"Yes and I hate scary movies."

"Well too bad," he says with a smirk before turning back to the TV. "It was my choice today so we're watching this."

I sigh as the documentary starts playing and accept the fact that I'm going to be bored for a while. I try to watch it but only make it five minutes before I'm bored out of my mind. Picking my head off James' shoulder, I look up at him and hope that maybe he can distract me from my boredom. "James."

"Hmm," he finally responds after a minute passes of him staring at the TV.

"I'm bored," I whisper, trying not to let the other guys hear me because I know they'll yell at me for talking during the movie.

"Can't you just watch this?" he asks without looking at me. Obviously he's way too interested in the movie and I'm going to have to find some other way to amuse myself.

I sigh before grabbing my phone out of my pocket and go on twitter. I scroll through for a minute, not really seeing anything interesting before deciding to tweet. 'That awkward moment when your boyfriend is more focused on watching a hockey documentary than you.'

I send it and lightly chuckle when I see fans replying immediately, a lot of them asking if I'm with the guys. So I quickly send out another tweet telling everyone that I'm with them for movie night. After a few minutes pass, I think of a fun way to pass the time while the guys are watching a movie and send another tweet. 'Okay I have an idea since I'm super bored with this documentary, I'm going to have a Q&A! Tag your questions with #asklauren!'

A huge amount of tweets start coming in with the tag right away and I try to respond to as many questions as possible. Most of the questions are the same, asking if James and I really are dating. Some people ask questions about filming The Hunger Games and the cast. Those questions make me smile a lot as I recall the memories from filming. Others even ask when my album will be out and I tell them I'll let them know as soon as I even know when it will be released.

At one point, I see a verified mention pop up and can't help but laugh when I see a tweet from Rachel. 'So who is your best friend in the whole world and who is totally jealous that she's missing out on movie night? #asklauren'

I laugh at this as I respond to her, telling her that I miss her. The guys shush me and I roll my eyes as I check the trending topics and see that my hashtag is the second worldwide trend. 'Wow, you guys are awesome! #asklauren is trending worldwide! Love you all!'

I glance up at the TV and realize that the documentary is over. I hadn't even realized that much time had passed just being on twitter. "Well that went by quickly."

Logan looks at me confused. "What are you talking about? It was over two hours long."

"Really?" They all nod their heads at me and I laugh a little. "Well I had been tweeting the whole time and answering a lot of questions from fans." I start smiling as I think about just how many people were tweeting me and how much fun I had answering questions.

Carlos goes on his phone after I say that and a minute passes before he looks at me in shock. "You have a trending topic? That's awesome!"

I shrug as I smile about this. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. But what are we watching next? I really hope it's not something boring again."

Carlos scoffs at this as he jumps off the couch and runs over to the TV. He picks up a DVD and excitedly holds it out to me. "We're gonna watch Clash of the Titans!"

I roll my eyes at his response and his movie choice. "Of course you picked something with fighting in it. But at least it's not another hockey documentary."

As the guys start walking towards their rooms, I turn back to my phone and see that people are still sending me questions and decide to tweet to let them know I wouldn't be answering more. 'Alright I've had a lot of fun, but I have to go! We're going to watch Clash of the Titans now and hopefully there will be some shirtless men ;)'

Looking up from my phone, James is standing there waiting for me with a smile. "Come on, let's go get our pajamas on."

James holds out a hand for me and I take it, letting him pull me up as I start frowning. "But I don't have anything because I've been here all afternoon."

James starts walking backwards and smiles as he leads me in the direction the other guys went. "You can borrow something from me." He pauses and chuckles as he turns around. "It wouldn't be the first time."

As James is about to open his bedroom door, Carlos opens it and steps out, smiling at us as he passes us. James walks over to his dresser and I follow him into the room before sitting down on his bed. He starts digging through for clothes and as I watch him, I can't help but think about being on his bed and how part of me just wants to stay here with him and forget the movie. He turns around and smirks at me as he hands me some clothes. "What are you thinking about?"

I blush a little before answering him. "How I would like to just say forget the movie and stay right here with you."

James walks over to me slowly, that devilish smirk still on his face. He puts his hands on my waist and my heart starts racing at his touch. When he leans down to kiss me, I throw my arms around his neck and pull him closer to me. He pushes me back so I'm laying down and hovers over me, barely putting pressure on me as he deepens the kiss. I moan a little before he pulls away chuckling. "I would love to stay here but I think the guys might kill me if we skip the movie."

"You're such a tease," I say as he pulls me up with him. I try to collect myself as he hands me clothes to change into. James smirks at me being so flustered over him as he leaves the room to go change into his own pajamas. I sigh at how much of a flirt he can be and yet he still affects me so much. I quickly throw on the clothes he gave me and try to ignore the scent of 'Cuda spray on them as I walk out his room; I did not need another reason to want to stay in his room.

When I walk back into the living room, the guys are all on their couch and waiting for me. Carlos raises an eyebrow at me, clearly aware that James and I took a while to get changed and I glare at him as I sit down next to James and he wraps his arms around me. James whispers to me as the movie starts. "I saw your tweet. You know, if you want to see a shirtless guy, we could just go back to my room."

I turn to look at him with an eyebrow raised. I try to stay calm and remember that the guys are all next to me because the look in James' eyes makes me want to kiss him so badly. "I'll keep that offer in mind," I say before turning back to the TV, very aware of every place that James is touching me.

We try to pay attention to the movie for a little while, but I can't seem to keep my mind off of James. Clearly he's having the same issue because after a while, he starts placing light kisses on my neck. He whispers against my neck, "Want me to take my shirt off now?"

Shivers travel down my spine at his seductive tone of voice. I turn my head to look at him and he starts kissing me before I can even say anything to him. I protest at first since we're on the couch with the other guys but I give in after a few seconds and start kissing him back. As he runs his tongue over my bottom lip, I put my hands in his hair and when I pull lightly on his hair he moans a little. His reaction turns me on even more and he is feeling the same way because his hands start playing with the bottom of my shirt.

As his cold hands touch my lower back, I remember where we are and quickly pull away from him, breathing heavy from kissing him. I look around and I'm relieved when I notice the guys are absorbed in the movie and haven't noticed me and James making out. I sigh as I look back at him, his hands still on my lower back. "James, stop. We can't with the guys here."

"Yes we can," he whispers as he tries to kiss my neck. I put a hand on his chest and push him back and he chuckles. "Okay, okay, we'll stop. For now," he says with a wink.

I shake my head at this but I'm smiling as I turn back to the movie. As James pulls me closer to him, I snuggle up to him while still trying to focus back on the movie. I don't know what it is about this man that makes me so crazy and lose control of myself around him.


	14. Chapter 14

**Well this chapter is a bit of an emotional one. Sorry about that (but not really lol). I hope you enjoy it and please review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Chapter 14:**

I make my way into to elevator, pulling my gym back up on my shoulder. As the doors close, my phone starts ringing and I take it out of my pocket. Once I see its Rachel, I answer right away. "Hey, what's up?"

"Not much," she responds as the elevator stops on my floor. She continues as I step out and make my way to my door. "So I decided to see what you were up to."

"Well, I just got done working out," I reply as I unlock my apartment and head inside. I toss my gym bag on the floor and walk over to my room. "And in a little bit I have to get ready for dinner tonight with James to celebrate their album coming out a few days ago. We would have gone sooner, but they've been busy with interviews all weekend."

"Aww, how are you and James?"

I lay down on my bed and starting smiling as I think about how happy I've been for the past few weeks since we finally started dating. "Things are great. He's the sweetest boyfriend ever and I've been so happy with him."

"Have you done anything with him?" She asks and I can just tell from her voice that she's smirking right now.

I start thinking about the few times that James and I have been alone in my apartment and I can feel my face heating up at the memories. While we didn't have sex again, that doesn't mean we couldn't have some fun. "Rachel, if you only called to talk about my nonexistent sex life, I'm going to hang up!"

"Wait, I'll stop talking about that!" She says in a panic at the thought of me hanging up.

I smile at her reaction, having learned years ago that the best way to get her to stop talking about things I don't want to talk about is to threaten to hang up the phone. It works almost every time because she always wants to continue talking to me. "I know."

"You're so mean, Lauren."

I laugh at this. "No, I'm not. You know you love me."

She pauses for a few seconds before finally saying, "Yeah, I do." I can hear the faint mumbles of someone talking to her. "Hey Lauren, hold on a sec."

I stare up at my ceiling while she talks to the person. I start thinking about how busy the last few weeks have been and how crazy the next few will be. The premiere for The Hunger Games is already in just a little over a week. Then my uncle wants to have my album out in a month and we only have a couple more songs to record for that. It's crazy how much has happened and how much is yet to come.

"Hey, I'm back," Rachel says after a few minutes have passed and I can tell she's a little upset. "So I have to get back to work early. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," I say, trying to make her feel better. "You've got to go do your job. Besides, you'll be back on Sunday so I'll see you in six days."

"Okay, I'll see you then, Lauren. Love ya!"

"Love you too, Rachel." I hang up the phone and sigh before glancing at the time. James is coming to get me in two hours for dinner. I slide off my bed and head to my bathroom and get the water running to warm up. Once it's hot, I quickly strip off my clothes and jump in the shower. I stand in the hot water for too long, feeling content and relaxed for once.

When I finish, I wrap a towel around myself before going back into my room. I open my closet and stare at my clothes, trying to figure out what to wear tonight. Pushing aside the garment bag with my dress for the movie premiere, I find a dress that I got for my birthday and haven't yet had the chance to wear. I put on the forest green dress and I'm happy with how the front is high neck but the back is open. The dress poofs out at my waist and has gems at the waist line for emphasis. Looking in the mirror, I'm satisfied with how the dress fits me.

I return to the bathroom and start brushing out my hair before carefully putting it into a French braid. After my hair is finished, I put some music on to listen to as I do my makeup. I sing along to the guys' new album as I give myself a smoky eye. So far the reception to the album has been nothing but great reviews. The album has already gone gold despite being out for only three days and Gustavo feels confident that it will reach platinum by the end of the week. I'm soon finished getting ready and slip on black pumps before heading to my living room to wait for James.

I glance at the time and see that I have a half hour left before James should be here. I sit on the couch and look around, trying to figure out something to do. My eyes land on my speakers and I figure why not continue listening to music out here. Once my phone is connected to it wirelessly, I relax against the back of the couch and start catching up on things. I respond to some of my friends who are in LA, preparing to go to the premiere next week, and make plans to hang out with them. Kelly has sent me a text about picking my album cover on Wednesday and I excitedly respond to her about being ready to pick a picture. Doing the photo shoot had made the idea of me having an album a very real thing.

After answering texts, I start scrolling through twitter absentmindedly. I find myself singing along to my music as I read over tweets, just trying to pass the time. Eventually, I hear someone laughing and I frantically jump up and turn towards the door, holding my hands in front of me to protect myself. I relax when I see James leaning against the doorway, looking even more handsome than usual wearing a nice suit. I jokingly hold my hand over my heart as he starts walking towards me with a smile on his face. "Way to nearly give me a heart attack."

James reaches me and wraps his arms around me, pulling me up against his chest. I breathe in the scent that is unique to him and lightly sigh in contentment over being in his arms. "I'm sorry," he jokingly whispers to me. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

I look up at him and smile. Every time I look at him and realize he's my boyfriend, I still feel incredibly lucky and I hope this feeling never goes away. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe you could just take me out to dinner at a nice restaurant to celebrate your band's new album being gold after being out for three days?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," he says before letting go of me and intertwining his fingers with mine. "Shall we get going Miss Rocque?"

I pick up my purse from the couch before heading towards the door, pulling him with me. "I would love to go out, Mr. Diamond."

As we walk towards the elevator, I can't help but enjoy being closer to his height with these heels on. And when we pause at the doors, I lean up and kiss him. I pull away when I hear the doors open and smile at him. We walk in and as the doors close behind us, James wraps his arms around my waist. "I really like this dress on you. You look beautiful."

I'm blushing as I look up at him. "Thank you."

He leans down and kisses me before the doors open up. As he pulls me through the lobby, he keeps his arm around my waist. "You are absolutely gorgeous and I can't believe I get to call you my girlfriend."

His words make my stomach do flips over how special he makes me feel. "One of these days you'll get used to that. But I can't really talk since I still wonder how I'm lucky enough to be dating you." I pause as we exit the lobby and starting walking in the parking lot. "So what kind of restaurant are we going to tonight?"

"Japanese," he responds as we approach his car. He opens the passenger door for me and I start getting in before I see the book sitting there. I pick it up and look over at him getting in his seat. "When did you start reading The Hunger Games?"

James shrugs as I get in and he starts the car. "About a week ago. I wanted to make sure I knew what happened before we go see the movie next week." I start smiling as he starts driving out of the parking lot. "Logan was terrified to let me borrow the book. He seemed to think I would destroy it since I never read."

"I'm sure he was overreacting like usual," I lightly toss the book onto the back seat before turning to him enthusiastically. "So what part are you at? What do you think of it so far?"

"It's down to the final three right now. And honestly, I kind of wanted to just stay home and read tonight." He looks over at me quickly before turning back to the road while smiling sheepishly. "But the book is fantastic. And I was so angry when Glimmer died because I just kept picturing her as you in my head."

I look over at him, excited about him getting so into the book series that I love so much. "You really reacted that way to reading the book?"

James comes to a stop at a red light and grabs my hand before looking over at me. "Of course. I want to do anything to make sure you're safe and protect you."

"Well you're not going to be happy when you see the movie in a week."

James chuckles at this as the light changes to green and he starts driving. He glances over at me smiling and I smile back at him before seeing his face drop in fear as he looks past me. He jerks the steering wheel and I turn to look out my window in a panic, not knowing what made James look so terrified. I barely see the car before I feel the sharp impact. Things go black and I can faintly hear someone shouting my name before everything fades away.

* * *

All I'm aware of is darkness and pressure on my entire body, holding me down in place. My eye lids feel heavy and I'm unable to open my eyes to see where I am. Unable to open my eyes, I start to rely on my other senses to figure out what is going on. I become aware of the steady beeping of machines before noticing the strong smell of antiseptics. Am I in the hospital?

Someone is holding on to my left hand and I can feel the bed shifting under their weight next to me. Another person on my right, or perhaps it's the same person, runs a hand over my hair soothingly. I can feel something bulky on my right leg and I feel so much confusion over what it could be. As more of my senses come back to me, I become more aware of the dull pounding in my head and how my chest hurts every time I breathe.

The person next to me starts talking and I can hear the pain in his voice and I just want to hug them when I realize that it is James. "This is all my fault."

"No it isn't, James," the person on my right replies and I think it's Logan but his voice is weak. "How were you supposed to stop that guy from going out drinking after losing his job and then running the red light?"

James tightens his grip on my hand and I can feel pressure on the pillow next to me before it starts to shake with his sobs. I try to lift my hand to comfort him and open my eyes, but the medicine is still holding me in place. I'm filled with anger over not being able to do anything to comfort James and I can feel my right hand twitch lightly. All I can hope is that I will be able to move soon as James speaks next to me. "I had the perfect night planned, too. We were going to that new Japanese restaurant for dinner and then I was going to take her to the beach and give her the necklace I bought."

He pauses as he lifts his head up from the pillow and takes a deep breath, shuddering from his sobs. My eyes start to not feel as heavy and I'm about to open them but stop as James continues speaking in a whisper. "And I never got to tell her I love her."

My heart starts beating fast at those words and I vaguely note in the back of my head that the machine in the room starting beeping faster. I slowly open my eyes and look over at James and see him holding his face in his hand. "You just did," I whisper to him, my voice coarse.

James' head jolts up quickly to look at me after I say this and a smile slowly forms on his tear-stained face when he realizes I'm awake. "Lauren, you're okay," he whispers and I start smiling at him. He leans over and gently hugs me.

I wrap my arms around him carefully as I bury my face against his neck. I can feel him start shaking with tears again and my eyes start watering from knowing that he is upset. I know that I've never felt the way I do towards James before and even though I've only been dating him for a month, in my heart I know the way I feel towards him is so real. I whisper in his ear, "I love you too, James."

James pulls away from me enough to look at me with a huge smile on his face. He leans back down and kisses me lightly before Carlos clears his throat and James pulls away while blushing slightly. The rare sight of him blushing amuses me and I squeeze his hand before turning to look at the others. Kendall is sitting in a chair next to me and I realize that he must have been the one running his hand through my hair comfortingly. Carlos is standing right behind me and is smiling at me being awake. And Logan is standing next to one of the machines, probably having been looking at it. But they all look relieved that I'm conscious.

I look back at James and love seeing him so happy right now but feel bad that I have to ruin it so I can know why I'm in the hospital. "So what exactly happened?"

James immediately looks down at the bed frowning and I can see his eyes start to water. He rubs circles on the back of my hand with his thumb and takes a deep breath before looking back at me. "Well, we started going through that light as a drunk driver started to run the red light. I tried to swerve the car out of the way but he still hit us. I only had to get a few stitches from glass flying," he says before moving his hair out of the way to show the stitches on his forehead. "You, on the other hand, got hurt a lot more."

"How bad?" I ask him as I try to figure out what parts of my body are in pain right now but they must have me on strong medicine because I can't really tell besides the aching in my chest. But I can tell by the expression on James' face that it must not be very good.

He opens his mouth to start talking but quickly closes it, not being able to form the words. Kendall notices this and starts to explain so that James doesn't have to. I can't help but appreciate how great of a friend Kendall is as I turn to look at him. "Well, your right leg is broken."

I sit up slightly to pat my leg, cringing as my chest hurts but I feel the cast and realize that was what I couldn't figure out was on my leg earlier. I lay back in pain and look at Kendall. The look on his face tells me that there is more to my injuries that he doesn't want to say. "And?"

His face scrunches like he doesn't want to tell me and he turns to look at Carlos who slaps him on the back of the head. Kendall quickly looks at me and blurts out the rest of my injuries. "You had to get stitches on several places on your face, you might have a concussion, and you bruised your ribs."

"Oh," I say, not having realized just how bad my injuries were. The broken leg I can deal with and I have dealt with it when I was younger. The bruised ribs might be a pain to deal with. But the stitches on my face? That is going to be a problem, especially since I have the premiere next week and I'm going to be in front of all of those cameras.

"Lauren, I'm so sorry," James says and I look at him just in time to see tears starting to fall down his face again. My heart wrenches in pain at this sight. "This is all my fault."

I quickly wipe the tears from his face and hold my hands there to make sure he's looking me in the eyes. "James, this is in no way your fault. Don't you dare blame yourself. Okay?" He nods his head at this and I start to smile at him.

Suddenly, I hear someone shouting in the hallway. "Where is she? Where's my niece?" The floor is shaking as someone runs closer and there's only one person who it could be. Gustavo bursts open the door scans the room before his eyes land on me and I start to see some fears in his eyes. "Lauren, are you okay?" he asks as he walks over to me, pushing Carlos out of the way as Kelly walks in the room.

"Yeah I'm doing fine," I say and try to reassure him with a smile.

"Okay good. I don't need one of my dogs getting seriously hurt," he responds and he tries to act nonchalant about the situation. But I can tell from knowing him for years that he really is worried about me.

"Don't worry about me uncle," I smile at him and place my hand on his shoulder and see him sigh lightly in relief.

A doctor walks in and looks happy when he sees me. "Good you're awake, Miss Rocque. That was quite an accident that got you in here and you're lucky to not have been injured worse. But we still need to keep you here for a few more hours to make sure there isn't any serious bleeding in your abdomen or in your brain. I'm going to apologize now because these tests are going to be long."

* * *

Long apparently means five hours of tests. But the doctor finally decided that I was okay to leave after taking an MRI scan that took two hours to collect the data. The worst part of that was having to stay absolutely still, especially when my leg started to itch under the cast. After the scan was done, Logan kept having to reassure me that it was very important to have the scan done. And I understand why, bleeding in my brain or abdomen could have serious health problems. Once the MRI scan was complete and we were waiting for the results, a nurse came in and did a bunch of small tests to make sure I had full control of my limbs and my possibly concussion wasn't going to be an issue.

The doctor finally wraps things up with me. "So Lauren, everything looks good. You don't have any bleeding in your abdomen and you only have a minor concussion. Your stitches will be able to get taken out in a week. The cast, however, will need to be on for at least six weeks. You'll be given crutches so you can walk around and I'll write a prescription for your painkillers. You can pick up both on your way out. Feel free to call me with any questions and you're free to go." He smiles at me before walking out of the room.

I immediately sit up and swing my feet over the side of the bed now that I can finally leave. Everyone starts moving towards me like they're afraid I'm going to fall and I roll my eyes at them. "Guys, relax. I just want to get the hell out of here."

James chuckles as he walks around to the side of the bed I'm on. "Well let's get you home, then," he says and holds out his hands for me. I grab them and he gently pulls me up, waiting to let go until he knows I won't fall and I'm so thankful that I have him and he cares so much about me.

Kelly walks up to me and hands me a pile of clothes. I take them confused as to how she got them and she answers my look before I can say anything. "While you were getting your scan, I went back to your apartment to pick up your clothes in case you were released tonight."

I give her a hug, starting to feel emotional about the great people in my life. "Thank you Kelly, you're the best." I smile at her before slowly making my way over to the bathroom in my room. James is right behind me and I know he is making sure I don't fall.

Once in the bathroom, I avoid looking in the mirror because I'm not ready to see the full damage of the accident. Putting the clothes on is a slow process as every movement of my stomach causes me to grimace in pain. I finally have the sweatpants and t-shirt on, I walk back out to see that Kelly, Logan, and Gustavo are missing. James walks up to me and wraps an arm around me carefully. "Where are the others?"

"Logan is getting the car, and Kelly and Gustavo are taking care of the paperwork in the front," James says as he guides me to the wheelchair sitting in the room. He laughs when he sees me grimacing about it. "Lauren, its hospital rules that you need to go to the front in that."

I sigh before admitting defeat and sitting in the chair. James starts pushing me out of the room with Kendall and Carlos walking on either side of me protectively. Carlos is talking about random things, being able to lighten the mood by just being himself. We quickly reach the front desk and Kelly hands me a couple things to sign and once I do, I get out of the chair and try to use the crutches. It's awkward feeling at first and as I try to walk around getting used to them, I glance at a TV in the corner and sigh when I see a picture of myself and James. The caption mentions us being in a car accident and I'm frowning as James walks up to me confused. "People know that we were in an accident. There's going to be paparazzi everywhere out there."

James wraps his arms around me protectively as everyone but Logan walks up to us. "We'll just have to get you in the car quickly. Logan should have it parked right out front."

My uncle scoffs at this before making his way towards the door. "No one is about to mess with my dogs."

I take a deep breath before continuing outside, hearing my uncle yell at the photographers to get away. The three guys and Kelly make a protective shield around me, trying to block the paparazzi from getting pictures of me. Lots of camera flashes go off but they keep their distance after my uncle yelling at them. Logan is waiting right in front and I let out a sigh of relief at the sight of him and start walking as fast as I can. James helps me get in the van carefully before getting in himself. The rest of the guys pile in before Kelly and Gustavo say goodbye to us and get in a limo.

As Logan starts to drive away from the hospital, I rest my head on James' shoulder as he carefully wraps an arm around me. Now that the craziness of leaving the hospital has calmed down, I start becoming aware of all the pain in my body. I can't help but feel lucky that I wasn't hurt more because from what I heard about the crash, I could have had a lot more serious injuries. James starts talking quietly so that only I can hear him. "I'm going to take care of you and I'm not going to let anything hurt you."

I smile as he kisses the top of my head and I feel so incredibly loved right now. "That's all I need, James, knowing you'll be there for me."


	15. Chapter 15

**Well this is just a really cute chapter and it made me all happy and giggly because I'm a sucker for romance sometimes. So enjoy and please review!**

* * *

 **Chapter 15:**

I'm smiling as I wake up from my dream of being on a warm beach with James. The dream had been so nice and relaxing being away from the craziness of work and everyone. I reach out my hand for the person sleeping next to me but I start frowning when my hand finds only empty fabric.

Opening my eyes, I look around confused at why my bed is empty. James had promised he would stay with me all the time until Rachel got home in a few days. And my uncle had even told him that he didn't have to go to the studio this week because he cared more about making sure I was taken care of than having James recording. I sit up, looking around my room for any sign that James is still in my apartment before calling out hesitantly. "James?"

I don't get a response and I sigh in disappointment as I swing my legs over the side of the bed. I had been looking forward to spending this week with him. It sucked that we had to be in an accident to get this much time together, but I plan to take advantage of it. I slowly stand up and hold on to the bed to keep myself steady until I feel confident that I'm not going to fall over. I start walking over to the door and almost lose my balance several times from the cast on my leg, but I refuse to use the crutches.

Once I reach my bedroom door, I open it and sigh in contentment when I smell food cooking. I continue making my way towards the kitchen, smiling now that I know James is still here. As I turn around the corner and lean against the wall as I see him talking to someone on the phone. "…Yeah I'll let her know. And are you sure you can't get back sooner?"

James looks up then and starts smiling when he sees me. He holds up a finger to tell me to wait for one minute as he listens to the person on the phone. "Alright, I'll see you soon."

He sets his phone down on the counter before walking over to me quickly. As soon as he reaches me, he wraps his arms around me, letting me take pressure off of my right leg. "Hey, you're up. Sorry I wasn't there but I figured I would make you breakfast so it would be ready when you woke up."

I put my arms around his waist and hold on to him tightly as I rest my head on his chest. Being in his arms can make me feel so much better. "It's okay, James. I think it's really cute and sweet of you to make me breakfast. Besides, bacon makes everything better."

James pulls back a bit and I look up to see a big goofy smile on his face. "Really? Bacon makes it better and not being in the arms of your loving boyfriend?"

"Oh yeah," I reply jokingly and I start laughing as he picks me up and carries me over to the counter. "Didn't you know that the way to my heart is with bacon?"

He sets me down on a stool before he goes back to cooking breakfast while laughing at my response. "Well mental note to self: cook Lauren bacon to make her happy."

I smile at this and laugh lightly before I grab a piece of bacon from the plate and quickly take a bite before he can say anything. "So who were you talking to?"

"Rachel. I wanted to update her on what happened at the hospital since I couldn't last night. By time we got out of there, it was super late over in New York." He puts the omelets on to two plates and moves to the stool next to me and sits down before continuing. "She tried to see if they would let her come home early but they're making her stay the last five days. She's really worried about you."

I sigh as I think about all of my injuries. My leg hurt and there is a constant aching in my ribs. "I figured she would be worried. I'm kind of surprised she didn't hop on the next plane and deal with the consequences later."

James picks up the plates and sets them down over on the table. He comes back over to me and carefully wraps his arms around my waist. "Hey, enough worrying about things right now. Let's go eat this delicious breakfast that I made."

I slide off the stool and he keeps an arm around me to help me walk over to the table. I stop halfway there, slightly annoyed at him thinking I'm helpless. "You know, I can walk over there myself."

James steps back and raises an eyebrow at this. His face shows that he thinks I'm 100% wrong but doesn't want to argue about it with me. "Well if you're so determined, go right ahead," he says and waves his arm towards the table.

"I will," I say stubbornly and part of me wonders if this is a good idea but I've already committed to it. I slowly start walking towards the table, trying so hard to make it there without falling. And I almost do, but slip a couple feet away. I shut my eyes tightly and brace myself for the impact with the floor. But it never happens; instead, I'm wrapped up in James' arms. I open my eyes and look up at him, seeing his face filled with worry. "Thanks," I whisper to him.

He nods and doesn't say anything as he carefully sets me on my feet. He doesn't let go of me and I can see that he's upset. "Please be more careful. I can't stand to see you get hurt."

I nod and look down at the floor, not wanting to see his hurt expression. I start feeling guilty and know that it was stupid for me to be stubborn and I should have just let him help me over to the table. His hand gently lifts up my chin and he makes me look at him. The look in his eyes is no longer one of pain, but of love. "Lauren, I love you so much and I care about you so I can't see you get hurt." James leans in slowly before gently pressing his lips to mine. I wrap my arms around his neck slowly as I kiss him back, not wanting this sweet moment to end. I love him so much and every time I kiss him, I feel like this is where I belong forever. He wraps his arms tighter around my waist and pulls me closer to him. But I gasp in pain at this and pull away.

James' grip loosens immediately and he looks at me concerned. "What's wrong, Lauren?" He picks me up gently and quickly sets me down at the table, being careful not to hurt me.

I can see him about to get very upset and I try to calm him down immediately since the pain wasn't too bad, just unexpected. "You were just holding me a little too tightly. My ribs and stomach still really hurt." James looks down at the ground as he sits down in the chair opposite me. I can see his eyes starting to glisten with tears and can feel my own eyes tearing up at the sight of him so upset. "James, look at me." He listens to this and picks up his head. "Don't be mad at yourself. This is not your fault. You just forgot for a minute that I was bruised."

He picks up his fork and starts absentmindedly poking at his omelet. "Yeah, I guess," he says quietly.

"Cheer up, okay? Because we're going to spend the whole day together just laying around doing absolutely nothing." He smiles a bit at this and I start feeling better too as I pick up my fork. I take a bite of the omelet and I'm so surprised at how delicious it is. "Oh my god, James. Why have you never told me that you make such good omelets? I would have had you make me breakfast every day."

He laughs as he starts to eat his food. "I do make a mean omelet, don't I?"

I nod my head as I continue to quickly eat, not realizing just how hungry I was. After I few minutes I finish and I sit back content as I rub my stomach. "That was so good."

James smiles at this as he still has half of his omelet left on his plate. "So what do you want to do today?"

"Well I'm going to go take a shower," I carefully stand up and make sure I have my balance. I stretch my arms above my head and if feels surprisingly good on my ribs. "I smell like the hospital and I can't stand it."

James looks at me concerned and seems like he's ready to jump out of his chair at any second. "Do you need me to help you at all?"

I look away from him and blush a little at being stubborn about accepting his help. I feel kind of bad telling him no but there's just part of me that hates relying on others for help. "No, I should be fine."

He gives me a look for not admitting that I might need his help. "At least let me carry you to the bathroom so you don't have to walk and worry about falling." I cross my arms at this which results in a raised eyebrow from him as he waits for a response. Finally I sigh and nod my head at him. He immediately jumps up and quickly but gently scoops me up in his arm and starts carrying me to my room. "So the doctor mentioned to me yesterday that your cast is waterproof so you don't have to worry about that. And if you need any help, just yell for me."

As he sets me down in my bathroom, I nod and smile up at him, feeling like I don't deserve to have someone who cares so much about me. "I will," I say quietly and he leans down to kiss me lightly before leaving and shutting the door behind him.

Once the door is shut, I turn around and gasp in shock when I catch sight of myself in the mirror. I had been avoiding mirrors since yesterday just because of this reason but I had not been prepared for it. The right side of my face is starting to bruise, especially around the two sets of stitches on my cheek and above my right eyebrow. I can feel my eyes start to water up at how terrible I look and turn away from the mirror, not being able to look any longer. I go to the bathtub and start to run the water, letting it get hot as I slowly take off my clothes, trying not to cause myself too much pain in my stomach. Even though I don't want to look, my eyes can't help but be drawn towards the mirror again and I cringe when I see how the entire right side of my stomach is varying purplish color from all of the bruises.

I turn away in disgust at the bruised state of my body. Deep down I feel some anger towards the person who did this but it quickly fades away when I remember that it's pointless to get angry because it's not going to change the fact that we were in an accident. I sigh as I carefully step into the shower with my good foot and wait a second to make sure I have my balance before swinging my right leg in. But I slip in the running water and fall to the shower floor with a loud crash.

"Oww," I say as I rub my elbow that slammed against the floor. Only I would manage to slip while getting into the shower.

The bathroom door bursts open and James runs in, looking around frantically and when he sees me, I can see the panic and fear on his face. "Lauren, are you okay?"

I start blushing as I realize that I am very naked right now in front of him and hold my arms over my chest and cross my legs. But he seems to be oblivious to this and more concerned about making sure I'm okay. "Um, yeah, I just slipped and fell while getting into the shower."

The water is still falling around me as James reaches down and holds out his hands to me. The look on his face shows nothing but love and I start feeling slightly less embarrassed about this as I take his hands and let him pull me up. "Are you sure you don't need my help?"

I sigh as a look up at him and almost say I don't need his help before realizing that he must be feeling so guilty about this situation still. And the look on his face shows that he loves me and wants to protect me no matter what happens. "Fine, you can help me." I cross my arms over my chest and stand there, waiting to see how he was going to help me. When he starts taking his shirt off, I stop him before he can get to his pants. "What are you doing, James?"

He chuckles lightly at this before leaning over to kiss me. "You can't expect me to go in the shower fully clothed." He starts to slip his pants off and I immediately turn around, blushing and not understanding how he isn't embarrassed at all about this. I still feel a little uncomfortable being naked in front of him when it's not in a sexual way but I know I shouldn't be because if he really does love me, he won't judge me at all.

I can hear him moving the shower curtain aside before feeling his arms wrap around my waist. The warmth of his skin against mine feels amazing and I can't help but feel that being in his arms is where I belong. I turn around so that I'm facing him and rest my head against his chest as I wrap my arms around him. I sigh in contentment as I feel safe in his arms and can forget about everything else going on right now. James starts gently rubbing shampoo in my hair, never completely letting go of me as he does this. I start wondering why I was so hesitant to let him help me in the first place because everything he has done so far has been incredibly sweet and caring. "James, thank you for doing this."

He pauses what he's doing and I glance up at his face to see that he's smiling down at me. "I would do this for you again in a heartbeat. It's my job to protect you and make sure that you're safe and sound. I love you."

My heart starts beating faster at this, still not used to how incredible it is to hear him say that. I move my arms to around his neck and slowly pull him down closer to my heart. When his lips are an inch away from mine, I whisper to him, "I love you too."

After I say this, James closes the short distance between our lips and starts kissing me. Our lips move together slowly as he starts walking me back until I'm leaning against the wall of the shower. There's no rush to our kisses, both of us knowing we have nothing planned today and can take our time kissing each other for once. My hands get tangled up in his hair like always and I enjoy getting to play with his hair while using this to pull him closer to me. One of his hands runs through my hair while the other one rests on my side.

A few minutes pass of this slow and relaxed kissing before James starts chuckling as he pulls away slightly. "You know, we should probably stop doing this in the shower and rack up your water bill."

"It doesn't really bother me," I say before laughing lightly. "But I suppose you're right."

James reaches over to turn the water off before stepping out of the shower and grabbing a towel for himself. As he wraps it around his waist, I start covering myself up, feeling a little uncomfortable again now that he isn't right next to me. When he looks up and sees this, he immediately reaches over and takes my hands. "Lauren, look at me." He waits for me to look at his eyes and when I do, I start forgetting about standing in front of him naked. "You are absolutely beautiful and I don't want you to ever feel uncomfortable around me. Okay?"

I nod my head, not sure if I can trust myself to speak right now because I have never had a guy care so much or even look at me the way James does. And I'm not sure if I can manage to say anything without crying about how much I love him and how he makes me feel. Once James sees me nod my head, he lets go of one hand so that he can grab another towel and hands it to me. I quickly dry myself off before wrapping the towel around me.

James takes my hands again and helps me step out of the shower before picking me up to carry me out into my bedroom. He gently sets me down on my bed before going to my dresser and taking out pajamas for me to put on and tosses the clothes to me. They're actually a shirt and shorts that I took from James and I quickly put them on as he puts on another pair for himself. As he does so, I take in his shirtless chest and start smiling at the fact that he's all mine. Once he's fully dressed, he walks over to me and grabs my hands. "So I know you want to do nothing today, but Kelly is going to come over soon so you don't have to go to the studio tomorrow. She would wait until next week to have you pick your album cover but I guess Griffin really wants it picked this week."

I shrug my shoulders at this as James helps me stand up. "That doesn't really bother me. I've known Kelly for years now and besides, picking my album cover is going to be exciting."

James smiles at this before kissing me lightly. "I'm glad you're not bothered by this." He pauses to pick me up again and I wrap my arms around his neck, starting to get used to him carrying me around and enjoying being in his arms. "Now let's go relax on the couch while we wait for her to get here." He walks out of my room and back into the living room. Once we reach the couch, he lightly tosses me down and I start laughing at him acting silly.

He lays down on the couch next to me and quickly wraps his arms around me before snuggling up to me. I sigh contentedly as I curl up next to him, so happy to just be cuddling with him. James starts running his hand over my hair and we stay like that for a while, not feeling the need to keep up a conversation as both of us feel content to have our arms around each other.

After a little while of this there's a knock on my door and I sigh as James gets up to answer it, not wanting to stop cuddling with him. I sit up to look at the door as he answers it and Kelly is standing there, holding an envelope that has the best prints from my photo shoot in one hand and a giant bag in the other. She smiles at me as she walks over to the couch and I look at the bag confused. "Hi Lauren, how are you feeling today?"

She sits down next to me as James sits on the other side of me and wraps an arm around me. "Not too bad. The cast is going to take some time to get used to but otherwise, I'll be fine. But what's in the bag?"

"Oh, Bitters stopped me as I was walking through the lobby," she rolls her eyes at this and James chuckles next to me, never having liked that man. "He said that people have been dropping off stuff all day and he was getting annoyed because it was interrupting his work."

"That implies that he actually does work," I counter and this makes her laugh.

"I know, but you can go through that later." She opens the envelope and takes out the pictures. "But let's start going through these so I can let you guys get back to relaxing and not worrying about work."

I take the pictures from her and start going through them. James looks over my shoulder at them and makes some expression about how he feels about each picture. There's maybe ten in the pile and after looking at all of them, I start to place on the table in front of us the ones I don't really like. I finally have it narrowed down to two pictures and hold them in front of me, trying to figure out which one I like more. The one in my left hand is kind of cool with me having my back to the camera and looking over my shoulder at the camera. But the one on the right has me holding my guitar over my shoulder while looking off to the side.

I eventually sigh and lean back against the couch. "I really like both of these but I can't decide which one I like more." I look over at James who's be relatively quiet as I looked at the two pictures. "Which one do you like more?"

James takes the two pictures from me and looks them over for a minute. He holds up the one of me with my back turned and waves it a bit. "This one is pretty cool looking and you look sexy and mysterious." He pauses and raises the other one. "But this one I feel is more you and it shows how you do like playing the guitar. So personally I would pick this one."

I look over at Kelly to get her opinion. "What do you think?"

"I have to agree with James," she says and shrugs her shoulder. "That was also the one Gustavo liked the best."

I take the pictures back from James and stare at them again. While I do really like both of them, there's just something about the one with the guitar that speaks to me more than the other. I try to think about how the pictures will look in a cd case and with my music and that solidifies my decision. "Okay I'm going with everyone else. Let's do the guitar picture."

"Great," Kelly says as she takes the pictures from me and puts them back in the envelope. "I'll let Gustavo know which one you picked and then we can get that going for making the cd case. But I'll let you two get back to relaxing and enjoying your time off."

I give her a hug before she can stand up. "Thank you Kelly. And let my uncle know that I'm doing fine. He might not show that he's worried but I know he is."

"I will," she smiles at me before getting up and heading towards the door. "Bye guys."

"Bye Kelly!" James says before turning to me and kissing me on the cheek. "I think you're going to look amazing on that cd cover. Now do you want to check out what's in the bag from Bitters?"

"I have been getting pretty curious," I say as James turns the bag upside down and a large amount of letters fall on the floor in front of us. I raise an eyebrow at this as I grab one and I start tearing up when I read the letter hoping that I'm okay. I look up at James and can tell that the letter he is reading is also saying the same thing by the way his eyes are shining with tears. "Are these all get well cards?"

"I think so," he answers as he grabs another card and reads it over. "Wow, this one is from Selena Gomez."

"No way," I say and snatch the letter out of his hand so that I can look at it. "I didn't even think she knows who I am."

James smiles at this as he grabs another letter to read. "Let's see who the rest of these are from."

I start opening more and I'm so surprised by all the love from fans who were so worried about us. There are more letters from other celebrities and I eventually pause to look at James. "I can't believe all these people cared enough to write to me. Or that half of these celebrities even know who I am."

"Of course they do," James says with a smile. "You're becoming one of Hollywood's biggest upcoming stars. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone know who you are."

I nudge him playfully at this and he starts laughing. "I don't think I'm that famous yet."

"Give it some time then," he says as he pulls me in for a tight hug and I let him pull me close. I start smiling as I lean against and feel content in his arms.

But of course my phone has to ruin the perfect moment. And when I recognize the ringtone, I groan because I know there's only one person who could be calling. "And now time to deal with the Queen of Hollywood."

"Who?" James asks confused as I move away from him, angry about having the cute moment with him ruined.

"My mother," I sigh as I look at my phone, considering not picking up. I hadn't talked to her since before I moved in to the Palmwoods because I had been 17 and she had to fill out paperwork since I was still a minor. I'm not even sure if she knows that my album is coming out soon or that I performed at a concert last month. And I'm still a little bitter that all I got on my birthday was a voicemail from her saying she was sorry she couldn't talk because she was so busy with her current movie.

James smile fades away once he knows who is calling. I've told him all about my issues with my parents and how I haven't really talked much to them lately with how different our careers are. "Oh. Well I'm sure she's just making sure that you're alright."

"Yeah I guess…" I mumble as my thumb hovers over the reject button but I can't bring myself to actually press it. While I was angry at her for not making time for me, it would still be nice to talk to her. I sigh before deciding to answer the phone. "Hi mom."

"Lauren, honey, are you alright?" she asks, seemingly concerned about me which is a change from the past couple of months.

"So you've decided to care enough now to call," I say as I lean back against the couch. I know it wasn't very nice of me to do this to her because she does care about me but part of me is very bitter about her not making effort to talk to me more.

"Lauren you know I care about you. And you also know that your father and I are very busy," she sighs at me and I can hear the exhaustion in her voice. I start wondering if constantly being busy was taking its toll on her and if she doesn't like it that way.

I hop off the couch and James starts to get up to follow me but I wave him down before I start slowly pacing around my apartment. "You could easily take five minutes a week to call me. Do you even know what's been going on with me and Uncle Gustavo?"

"A phone works both ways, honey. You could have called me too," she counters me and I start scowling about her being right as I pause at the window and look down at the pool. I spot the guys down there and I can't help but want to join them but not while I look beat up from the accident. "Also you've been recording, performed as an opening act at one concert, and you're album is possibly coming out next month. And on top of that, the premiere for The Hunger Games is next week." She pauses and I'm left shocked by her knowing everything that's been happening with my work. "I do keep up with what you're doing, honey, even if it's not directly from you. Now are you done arguing with me about how I supposedly don't care so you can tell me what happened last night?"

I sigh as I start walking back over to the couch, feeling defeated about arguing with her. "I was in a car accident." I can see James cringe at this and start frowning. I grab his hand and squeeze it, trying to tell him without speaking that it wasn't his fault. "A drunk driver ran a red light and hit us so nothing that we did."

"Did you get seriously hurt? And you said us, who else was involved and are they fine?" she asks with concern as James pulls me on to his lap and puts his arms around me. I can tell he's trying to listen in to the conversation to figure out if it's going poorly.

"Well I didn't have any major bleeding in my abdomen so that's a bonus," I say somewhat sarcastically and James tightens his arms around me at this. I sigh before getting serious, realizing I shouldn't really joke about this yet in front of him because he still feels like it was partially his fault. "But my right leg is broken, my ribs are bruised a bit, and I have some stitches on my face. And James was the one driving and he only had a few stitches from glass flying since the car hit us on my side."

"Who exactly is this boy?" she asks and I'm almost surprised she isn't aware of who he is since she knows what else is going on in my life. But then again, it's possible that Kelly just sends her occasional updates about what's happening and wouldn't feel the need to mention something not work related.

"He's my boyfriend," I say, smiling as I look up at James who kisses me on the cheek.

"Is he treating you well? And how did you meet him? You have to watch out for people here because some of them will use you for your last name." I scoff at this and James chuckles next to me, clearly having heard what she said.

"You don't have to worry about the fame part, mom, since I met him at the Palmwoods and he also works for my uncle," I pause as I think about James and everything he's done for me. "And he treats me extremely well."

"Well if you're happy sweetheart, that's all that matters," I can hear her sigh at something before she continues talking to me. "They're calling me back to work now. I'm really glad that you're okay. I know I'm not the best mother sometimes and let my career take priority over everything else, but I really do care about you. And your father and I are both proud of what you're doing with your career without us."

I start smiling at this, not having realized before just how much I missed my parents and how amazing it is to hear that she's proud of me. "Thanks mom," I say quietly, trying not to start crying.

"I love you, sweetie, and I'm looking forward to seeing you next week at the premiere."

I sit up at this in excitement, not having known that she would be there. "Really? Is dad going to be there too?"

She laughs at my change in mood before answering. "Yes I'll really be there. And I wish your father was going to be there. But he's currently filming New Zealand and they're pressed for time finishing his movie and won't let him take the weekend to come visit."

"Oh," is all I can say, feeling disappointed once again. I had really started to get excited that I would see both of my parents again, especially at the premiere because I want them to see what I've been doing.

"Trust me, I wish he was going to be here too. These long times away from him are hard on me too," she says and I can tell that she is upset. I often forget about the fact that while I'm away from my dad, she's away from the love of her life. "I really have to get going now. But I'm excited to see you next week."

"I can't wait to see you too," I say as I lean back against James, letting him pull me closer to him. "I love you, mom."

"I love you too. Bye Lauren."

I hang up the phone after this and snuggle closer to James. I'm in a much better mood now, knowing that just next week I would at least get to see my mom, even if I had always been a little closer to my dad while growing up. And I decide that I will at least try to call her every other week because her comment about me not calling really stuck. As for my dad, well it always seems like he's in a completely different time zone and calling him is difficult so maybe I'll try emailing him.

James clears his throat and I look up at him, momentarily having forgotten that he was there as I got sidetracked thinking about my parents. "So was that too terrible?"

"No," I reply and start smiling at him. "I think I might be able to make things better with her because I've realized that I've also been really bad about keeping in contact with her."

"That's really great. I'm glad that's working out because you've told me before how sad it makes you that you don't talk to your parents often." James pauses to hug me. "So what did you get so excited about at the end?"

I sit up again so that I can look at him and start grinning. "My mom is going to be at the premiere next week!"

"Really?" he asks and I can tell he's happy for me as I shake my head yes. "That's great. But does that mean I'm going to have to meet her and be judged about if I'm a good boyfriend?"

I laugh at this as I lay down on the couch, pulling him down with me. "I wouldn't worry about that. So far she has not scared away any boyfriends. Besides, you've survived working with my uncle for almost two years now. You can handle my mom."

"How do you always manage to be right?" He laughs at this as he grabs the TV remote and turns on the TV. "Well it makes me happy that you're happy and I will gladly meet your mom. But can we now finally enjoy our rare alone time without someone bothering us about work or something?"

"Yes please," I reply as he starts looking for a movie for us to watch. It does suck that we had to be in a car accident to get this much time alone with each other. But I do want to enjoy every minute we have together. As we start watching a movie he picked, I can't help but smile as I think about how excited I am for the movie premiere next week.


	16. Chapter 16

**Alright here we go: finally get to see the premiere of the movie! This is a fun chapter and I hope you enjoy! Please review if you like it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 16:**

I throw open my bedroom door, letting it bang against the wall to get James' attention. Then I strike a pose in the doorway, one hand on my hip and the other behind my head. I raise an eyebrow at James as I wait for his reaction. "What do you think?"

James had jumped when he heard the door slam open and he turns around where he's sitting on the couch so that he can look at me. He starts smiling when he sees me and looks over the long dress that I'm wearing for the premiere. "Was it necessary to be that loud to get my attention?" he asks as he gets up from the couch and is laughing as he starts walking over to me.

"Of course it was. So what do you think?" I ask again, turning in a circle to give him a full view of the long, tight fitting black dress with a long slit up my left thigh. If the dress didn't have the slit on the left leg, I probably would have gotten something else to wear because I do not want to have my cast exposed. It's bad enough that I had to change my shoe choice and can no longer wear heels tonight. But at least I was able to get the stitches out before today and the slight bruising I still had was easily covered up with some makeup.

James reaches me with a smirk on his face and I know he likes the dress as he wraps his arms around my waist. "I think you look absolutely gorgeous. But you always do."

I place my arms around his neck as I take in his appearance, enjoying the tux he has on because he looks so good when he's dressed up like this. I lean in close and whisper to him, "You don't look too bad yourself."

"I tried," he says as he starts leaning towards me to close the distance between our lips. And his lips just touch mine before we're interrupted.

"Normally I would think you two were being super adorable," Rachel starts saying and I groan at her as I pull away from kissing James. "But right now, we're going to be late if we don't leave within five minutes."

I can tell that James is just as annoyed as I am at being interrupted by Rachel before I turn my head to see her standing in the doorway to her room, one hand on her hip. I take in her dress choice and nod my head at her looking good in the emerald green high-low dress. "Fine, we'll get going."

I move my arms away from James' neck and he puts an arm around my waist as we start walking towards the door. I lean against his shoulder as Rachel walks beside us as we leave our apartment. While we wait for the elevator doors to open, I start feeling eager to get to the premiere and to see the movie. Plus, I can't wait to see my mom tonight.

Once we're in the elevator heading down, Rachel speaks up. "So the guys are downstairs waiting for us in the lobby."

"How do you know?" I ask her curiously.

When she starts blushing lightly at this, I raise an eyebrow at the fact that my normally very outgoing best friend was blushing over something. She looks down at the ground before answering me. "Carlos texted me a couple minutes ago."

"Okay then," I say as the doors open, starting to wonder what was going on between the two of them. I let Rachel walk out first, curious to see what she would do and sure enough, she walks over to the guys and stands next to Carlos, a shy smile on her face. I start smirking about this as I look up at James and whisper to him as we slowly walk over to the guys. "Rachel and Carlos totally have a thing for each other."

He looks at them briefly before turning back to me with a look of disbelief. "Seriously? I don't think so. I know Carlos, Rachel would not be interested in dating him."

I shake my head at this as we walk up to the group and speak quietly to him. "And I know Rachel and I think she would be."

James scoffs at this as we reach the others and Carlos shouts at me before hugging me. "Lauren, you look so pretty!"

This makes me laugh as he holds me tightly. I don't think I'll ever get tired of how happy he always is. "Thanks, Carlos, but I kind of need to breathe."

"Sorry," he quickly says before letting go of me. The guys all start laughing at his reaction because it is so typical of him."

Once their done laughing, Kendall speaks up. "So are we all ready to go?"

I look around and see everyone waiting for my answer. My excitement starts to build as I shout, "Let's go!" I take off towards the entrance before anyone else can start moving and James has to jog slightly to catch up to me. He wraps his arm around my waist as we walk in front of the others.

As we start piling in the limo waiting for us out front, Logan starts talking to me excitedly about the movie. "I'm looking forward to seeing how the movie is compared to the book. Ever since they first announced the movie was being made, I've been following along to all of the news about it."

Logan sits next to me and James hasn't left my side as the driver starts taking us to the premiere. "You won't be disappointed," I respond to Logan as I lean back against James. "While I haven't seen the finished movie, from being on set I can tell you that everyone really wanted to make the best film we could because the book is phenomenal. And I just can't believe the premiere is finally happening!"

Kendall chuckles at this. "I know, you've only been talking about it for months now," he says sarcastically.

I point a finger at him accusingly. "That's enough of your sass, Kendall Knight. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even be going to this premiere tonight."

"And thank you for that," he responds and starts grinning at me, showing that he was just joking. "Believe me, we're just as excited to see this movie as you are."

"Also," James adds and I turn to look at him. "I think I'm speaking for everyone when I say that we're all very proud of you."

"Thank you," I start smiling at this when everyone agrees with him. Every time something like this happens, I feel so lucky about having such amazing friends.

The rest of them keep talking for a while about what they hope to see in the movie and I keep quiet, already knowing from filming if they'll see what they want or not. As we get close, I start feeling anxious about being in front of so many people. This was going to be the first time since the accident that I went in public. James squeezes my hand and I turn to see him smiling at me reassuringly. He whispers to me and I can tell he knows what I'm worried about. "Hey, everything's going to be fine. I'll be right next to you the entire time."

He kisses my cheek as we pull up to the red carpet behind a couple other limos. I squeeze his hand back, being happy that I have him with me as support. My phone buzzes and I check it to see a text from my mom. 'Already halfway through the carpet. Haven't seen you yet. Will meet you after the movie.'

I sigh a little at this before our limo pulls up and I put my phone in my purse, knowing that now is not the time to be worrying about this. Kendall opens the door and I can hear the fans screaming as he steps out and is followed shortly by Logan. Carlos gets out next and helps Rachel out of the limo. I look over at James and he smiles encouragingly at me. "Shall we do this?"

I nod at him and he exits the limo, turning around to hold out a hand to me. I take it and let him help me out of the limo. I'm overwhelmed as soon as I'm out of the limo by the huge amounts of flashing cameras and the screams of fans. As James wraps an arm around my waist and starts moving me towards the cameras and interviewers waiting for me, I lean against him and smile, happy to have a boyfriend that supports me so much.

We start walking along the red carpet, posing for pictures together. At times, James steps aside and lets me have a moment by myself. But then there are times when I pose with Rachel while the guys take pictures as a group. My face starts to hurt from all the smile for pictures, but when I go to the fans, I forget all about it as I take selfies and sign things for them. Some tells me how they've been camped out there for days and I can't believe how dedicated they are towards this series.

I get interviewed by a lot of people. Most of the questions are the same, asking about funniest moments on set or favorite memory from filming. I don't mind answering those questions and I know it's something that comes along with being part of a film. But I enjoy the ones who ask me about my current music or have me play a question game instead.

After some finally pictures are taken of the cast together, we head inside the theater and I'm no longer feeling exhausted from the red carpet. I sit next to Jack and my other costars who played the tributes my character interacted with and James sits on my left with the guys and Rachel. The theater is quickly filling up with people and I look around at all of the celebrities there as my excitement builds.

When the lights dim, I start slapping James on the arm in anticipation and he laughs lightly at my reaction before grabbing my hand and holding on to it tightly. I've waited so long to see the finished product for The Hunger Games and when the movie starts, I can feel my stomach doing flips from being so eager. The movie is so intense right from the beginning and even if I wanted to look away, I wouldn't be able to. I'm almost in tears when Katniss volunteers and I continue to be impressed by how well done the producers made the Capitol look.

As soon as my character first appears on the screen, I start smiling ridiculously and James squeezes my hand. This happens every time I appear and I start to wonder if he's doing it consciously or if it's a subconscious reaction he's having to seeing me.

Once the actual games start, the movie is non-stop action and I find myself on the edge of my seat even though I know everything that happens. And when my character dies, I'm surprised by how amazing they made my death look. James starts getting a death grip on my hand and I have to give him a look before he realizes what he's doing and loosens his grip.

I can hear Carlos mutter from the other side of James when my character dies and I chuckle to myself at his reaction. "Whoa, I did not see that coming."

By time the movie ends and the lights come up, I'm pretty sure everyone watching has shed a tear at some point. I'm left sitting in shock, still trying to process that I had finally seen the movie I was part of. It's only hearing my friends talking about how much they liked the movie that brings me back and I look over at them smiling. James is the only one who hasn't said anything and I look at him confused. "Well what did you think?" I ask him, suddenly feeling nervous about what he was going to think.

He squeezes my hand before kissing me on the cheek. "You were absolutely perfect." I lean over and kiss him after that statement.

When I pull away, I see the others looking at me expectantly. Carlos is starting to get impatient. "So can we go to the after party now?"

I stand up and look around to find a certain person. Once I spot the woman who I look so similar to near the back talking to a few people, I turn back to Carlos. "In a few minutes. I need to go talk to my mom but you guys should probably head outside."

"We can wait," Kendall says and slaps Carlos when he starts to protest this.

Rachel scoffs at me. "And I'm going with you. Your mom might as well be my mom too."

I nod my head in agreement at this as I turn towards James. I start feeling guilty over what I'm about to say but I've thought about it a lot and know it's what I should do. "James, I would rather have you stay over here with the guys while I go up to my mom first. And then I can introduce you to her."

James starts frowning at this before finally nodding his head, respecting what I want. I squeeze his hand one last time before letting go and turning to Rachel. She loops her arm through mine and starts dragging me towards my mom. We get stopped a couple times by people telling me congrats on my part before we finally reach her.

I hang back a bit as she continues talking to people and wait for her to notice us, not wanting to interrupt her conversation. I take in her appearance that is so similar to mine and again question how she always looks so flawless at red carpet events and only hope that I am like that someday. It only takes a minute for her to see me and she excuses herself right away.

She walks up to me immediately and places her hands on my shoulders and holds me out at arm's length away as she looks over my appearance. Then she starts smiling and pulls me in to a tight hug. "Oh honey, you look so beautiful and I'm so proud of you." She steps back from me, still smiling as she looks over at Rachel. It doesn't take long for her to hug Rachel, too. "And Rachel, look at you! All grown up and modeling now for such big names."

While she hugs us, I can't help but smile at how happy I am to see my mother. We may have our occasional arguments, but I really do love her and I'm so thankful for everything she's done for me over the years. "So did you like it?"

"Like it?" My mother asks and laughs at this. I look over at Rachel and she has the same confused look on her face that I do. "I loved it, sweetheart. Now where is this boyfriend you mentioned when we talked on the phone?"

I chuckle at this before I point over to where the guys are standing. They all wave at us when they see us looking at them. "James is over there with the rest of our friends."

"Is he the blond?" My mom asks and Rachel starts laughing at this before I smack her on the arm. "You always do seem to fall for the blonds."

This makes me roll my eyes as I shake my head at her thinking I'm dating Kendall. But the part about me going for the blonds is definitely true. "No mom, that's Kendall. James is the other tall one."

She looks over at him and raises her eyebrows before nodding her head in approval. "Well I can definitely see why you would want to date him. If I was twenty years younger I would want to date him too." She turns back towards me as Rachel laughs at her reaction. "So how did you meet him? And what is he doing with his career?"

"I met him at the Palmwoods but I would have met him at Rocque Records eventually," I say and she raises an eyebrow at this, silently telling me to explain this. "He is part of Uncle Gustavo's other project right now with the other guys over there."

"Interesting. I might have to look them up. Now are you going to let me meet him or not?"

I get James' attention and wave him over. As I watch him make his way towards us, I start feeling nervous about her meeting him. There's really no reason for my mom to not like James but there's always that fear any time I have someone meet my parents. The first two guys had panicked or said something stupid because they were intimidated by them. After that, I won't take a guy to meet them unless we've been dating for at least six months and we're pretty serious.

James did not fit the former category but our relationship is the most serious I've ever been in. I love him and I want my mom to like him so badly. When he reaches us, he has on that dazzling James Diamond smile and I can tell that he's trying to impress my mom. He holds out his hand right away, "Hello, Mrs. Rocque. I'm James Diamond."

My mother shakes his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, James." As she lets go of his hand, she briefly raises an eyebrow at me, silently asking me where I found a guy that wasn't scared of her. "So Lauren mentioned you work for my brother-in-law? I can't imagine that's an easy thing."

James chuckles at this and I start to feel a bit relaxed about him meeting my mom. "Oh it definitely isn't easy. But even though he won't admit it, I'm pretty sure he likes us at this point."

"Well if you can get him to like you then I know you must be a good guy. Lauren might as well be his daughter with how much he cares about her and he might be more protective about boyfriends than I am."

I laugh at this as my mom puts an arm around me and pulls me close. "This is a true statement. But I think he's doing fine with Uncle Gustavo."

My mom looks at me and smiles. "I trust your judgment." She looks back over at James and Rachel. "But I'm going to let you kids go have fun at the after party. I have to be on set early tomorrow morning so I'm going to head home." I start frowning at this, not happy that I haven't gotten to spend very much time with my mom. She notices this and hugs me right away. "Lauren, you can't be sad right now. You were amazing in that movie and you're with all of your friends. Don't worry about seeing your mom right now."

I let go over her and nod my head, not quite ready to leave her yet but knowing she's right. I just don't know when I'll get to see her again. "Thank you for being here tonight."

"You know I wouldn't have missed it, sweetheart," she smiles at me before turning me around and lightly pushing me towards James. "Now go have fun at the after party. You kids have earned a break."

James takes my hand and starts to lead me away from my mom as he turns back to look at her. "It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Rocque." She waves at him as we return to the guys. James pauses me before we reach them. "Do you think she liked me?"

"I think she did," I say as I think about her reaction to James being confident around her.

"Good," James says before kissing me on the cheek.

We turn back towards the rest of our friends who are waiting for us. Carlos is getting impatient and as soon as we reach him, he's ready to walk out of the theater. "Come on, I just want to get to the party!"

"Relax, Carlos, we're going," I roll my eyes but start leading our group out of the theater. At this point, most of the people attending have already left and we're able to get out of there quickly and reach our limo in front. We all pile in and soon we're off to the party.

I cuddle up next to James, happy to be surrounded by my best friends. I wouldn't have wanted to see this movie with anyone else. Once the limo arrives at our next destination, everyone starts to exit but James makes me wait in the limo until we're alone. I look at him confused until he reaches inside his jacket. "I have something for you," he whispers as he hands me a long box.

I can tell he's nervous and I'm not sure why as I open the box, revealing the silver heart pendant. My heart starts beating faster as I read the engraving on it out loud. "Forever and always…" I trail off as I look up at him, starting to feel tears forming and not knowing what to say to him.

"It's true, Lauren. I love you and I will forever and always," he starts smiling at me as he takes the necklace from the box. "Here, let me put it on."

I move my hair to the side so he can put it around my neck. My hand reaches up for it automatically and I play with it as I look at him, feeling so overwhelmed by how I feel towards him. "God, I love you so much," I say before wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him, knowing I can better explain how he makes me feel through a kiss than with words right now.

James eventually breaks the kiss and he's grinning at me. "I love you too, Lauren. Now, we should probably go to the party now." I take his hands and let him lead me out of the limo. As we make our way inside the building, I can't help but smile at how perfect this night has been already and the night is still young.


	17. Chapter 17

**Well, just don't hate me for this chapter. That's all I'm going to say.**

* * *

 **Chapter 17:**

As we walk into Rocque Records, I swing James' hand in mine and smile up at him. Today had been the perfect way to finish off an already amazing weekend with a date at the beach with James. He had wanted to take us somewhere that I could relax because I didn't have very much time to do that since the movie premiere three days ago. But now Gustavo wanted to talk to all of us and I can't help but be a little annoyed at this. My uncle had told us that he would give us through Monday off so whatever he has to tell us better be important for interrupting our day off.

James and I enter the studio and see that everyone is already there. One look at my uncle shows that he is annoyed at us and he stands up when he sees us. "Dogs, you're finally here."

"Sorry, we were at the beach since you know, you gave us the day off," James says with a roll of his eyes as we sit down on the couch next to Carlos. "So we had a bit of a drive to get back here."

"It's fine," Kelly quickly says and puts a hand on Gustavo's shoulder to hold him back before he gets angry. "You're here now so everything is good."

I lean back against James as he puts an arm around me. "So what did you need to tell us that couldn't wait until tomorrow when it wasn't our day off?"

"Good question, L-dog," Gustavo says before walking towards the wall behind him that has a white screen pulled down over it. "I know it's been a busy weekend but that's not going to stop any time soon." He grabs the bottom of the screen before looking over at us. "The reason I called you in on your day off is because Big Time Rush will be having their," he pauses to build anticipation and the guys start leaning forward, wanting to know what they're getting. My uncle releases the screen as he shouts, "First world tour!"

The wall behind the screen is revealed to be a map off the world. Placed across the map is the BTR logo, indicating places where there will be shows. Most of the places are in North America, but there are a ton in Europe and Asia, even some in Australia. The guys all start cheering about the tour announcement, Logan and Carlos getting up to start dancing in excitement. I just sit there and stare at the map, looking at the huge amount of cities they would be performing in. There were at least 40 cities and most likely they would play more than one show at some of them. This tour was going to be at least three months long.

And that means at least three months without the guys here.

Tears start falling down my face as I try to think how I was going to survive being separated from James and the others for that long. I hate the days when I don't get to see James. So how would I do not seeing him for three months? Would our relationship even be able to handle that kind of long distance?

The guys finally stop cheering and when they look over at me, their smiles fade away instantly when they see me crying. James immediately grabs on to my hands and makes me look at him. "Lauren, what's wrong?"

I let go of one of James' hands so that I can try to wipe away the tears that keep falling down my face. I try to talk through the sobs that are uncontrollable at this point. "You guys are all just going to leave me here for several months?"

"Hey, I'm sure you could probably go with us," Carlos says and looks over at Gustavo. The rest of the guys all turn to my uncle and start begging for him to let me go with them. Their reaction has the tears slowing down a little and I feel lucky to have such great friends.

"Lauren will be going with us," Gustavo says and the guys cheer at this. I start smiling at this and feeling relieved that I would be going with them as he continues. "But she won't just be tagging along. No, Lauren will be opening for you dogs."

I start grinning at the idea of not only traveling the world with my best friends but getting to open for all of their shows. "Really?" I ask him in disbelief and when he nods his head, I jump up from the couch and run over to him. I hug him tightly, happy that he is giving me this opportunity. "Thank you so much, Uncle Gustavo!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome," he responds begrudgingly. But as he hugs me back, I know that he is happy about my reaction. "Now get off."

I laugh at his reaction before letting go and walking back to the couch. James wraps his arms around me and pulls me close to him as my uncle continues talking to us. "Now this is going to be a chaotic time before the tour. It starts in three months and we have a lot to get done in that time. There's going to be promo, photo shoots, and rehearsals. Dogs, you're going to have to learn new dances for a lot of songs. L-dog, you need to finish your album, release that, film a music video, and then learn new dances. But you're not getting your cast off for another three weeks, right?"

I nod as I shrug my shoulders at this, knowing it is probably going to end up being a problem with rehearsing.

Gustavo sighs at this. "We'll make it work. Now I know you said you could have today off, but we need to get some preliminary stuff done for tour. Dogs, you just to need to get measurements for clothes today. L-dog, we need to record a new song. You're album is out in less than two months and we need to have it finished within two weeks." We all nod our heads, understanding that while it was going to be exciting to go on tour, there was going to be a lot of work involved. Gustavo claps his hands and the marketing team runs in. They start to drag the guys away as Kelly takes my arm and leads me into the recording studio.

"So do you have a song written already?" I ask my uncle as he sits down at the controls.

"I have two actually. I'm not sure about which one I like better so I guess it's up to you. I trust you to make a good decision and it is your album."

Kelly passes me the music for the two songs and I start looking them over. Blank Space seems like it's a fun song and I start picturing how a music video for it would be fun to film since I could pretend to be a little crazy. But then there's Crazy In Love and it's slow and the lyrics seem like it is going to be sultry and something I haven't done before. Both songs are interesting to me and I don't know which one to pick. I shrugs as I look up at my uncle. "Can't I just have both of them on my album?"

Gustavo looks shocked at this idea and when I realize he didn't think about this, I chuckle a little to myself. Sometimes he just gets in a frame of mind that it has to be one or the other. "That could work. I would like to have four more songs to put on the album and this would definitely save us some time. Okay get in the booth, we'll record Blank Space today and you can record Crazy In Love tomorrow."

* * *

I start making my way back to the Palmwoods, enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having this summer in LA. As I walk outside, I pull my phone out to send a text to James. The guys had been able to leave the studio a lot sooner than I was, mostly because the only thing they had to get done today was get measurements for tour outfits. I let James know I'm on my way back, smiling as I think about getting back to spending the day with him. While finding out that we're all going on tour was exciting, I'm still a little annoyed that my uncle had to interrupt our date.

James' response comes in less than a minute and when I read it, I can't help but feel so loved when I see his concern about me. _'Want me to come pick you up? I'm by the pool but I'll leave so you don't have to walk with your cast.'_

I look up from my phone and can see the Palmwoods from where I am right now. Smiling, I respond to his text. _'Don't bother, I'll be there in a couple minutes.'_ I then put my phone away, happy to be with James soon. And while he was concerned about walking with the cast on my leg, I had gotten used to it at this point and just had to walk a little slower than normal.

As I enter the Palmwoods, I can't help but smile at Bitters because I'm just in a good mood. He grunts and glares at me before turning back to his food. I brush this off as I start heading towards the pool, not letting it bother me that he didn't like me being nice to him.

As I stand in the doorway to the pool, starting to look around for James, Camille runs up to me and puts her hands on my shoulders, trying to push me back into the lobby as she blocks my view of the pool. "Lauren, don't go out there. Please."

I try looking around her and push back as she tries to move me into the lobby. "Camille, why should I not go out there…" I trail off as Logan runs over towards us and tries to move me back. And I let them at this point because I finally spotted James in his normal chair by the pool with the new girl that moved in the other day. My stomach starts turning and my body feels like it's frozen as I see him kissing the girl. "No, no, no."

"Shit," Logan says when he sees my reaction. "Get her out of here," he yells Camille and she starts pulling me into the lobby. I give her no resistance now, my mind not even paying attention to what she's doing right now as all I can think about is James kissing the girl. How could he do this to me after everything we've gone through? And after he told me that he would love me forever and always?"

Logan's outburst caught James' attention and I see him push the girl away and look over towards the lobby. When he sees me getting dragged away by Camille, his face drops in fear. "Shit, Lauren, no!" He yells before tripping to get out of his chair to run after us.

It's his reaction that makes the tears that have been threatening to fall start spilling over and I turn towards Camille. "Please get me out of here." She nods and starts walking quickly out of the lobby and towards the parking lot. I start shaking with sobs as I hear James running after us and shouting for me to wait.

As we reach the parking lot, I feel someone grab my arm and spinning me around to look at them. When I see it's James, I try to pull my arm out of his grip but he doesn't let me move away. "Let me go, James," I say full of anger and hurt that he would do this to me.

He runs a hand through his face in frustration. "Lauren, please. It's not what it looked like," he pleads with me and I can feel my heart breaking even more at how miserable he looks right now.

Camille tries to pull me away from him but James doesn't release me. "Really? Explain to me how you weren't just kissing some random new girl."

James lets go of my arm and raises his hands in frustration as Camille starts to move me away from him. "Do you think I wanted to kiss that girl? Do you think I willingly would want to cheat on you after everything we've gone through?" His voice was starting to raise before he puts his face in his hands. "Fuck, don't do this Lauren. I love you too much to lose you."

It takes everything in me to not run into his arms and forgive him because he is in so much pain and I hate that I'm the cause of it. But then the image of him kissing that girl pops into my head and my stomach starts feeling nauseous. I pull my arm away from Camille and look away from James, hating that I had to do this. "James, I can't do this."

"Please don't say that, Lauren," he says and the pain in his voice makes me put a hand on my face as the tears continue falling.

"You've made your choices, James. Now I'm making mine," I glance over at him and realize this was a terrible idea as I see the tears starting to fall down his face. My heart continues to break as his does too.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he tries to grab my hands and I let him, not being able to continue hurting him any more than I've already done.

I hold on to his hands tightly, knowing this is quite possibly the last time I'll ever do that. Images of having to see him and not being able to kiss him or touch him whenever I want start going through my head and I start sobbing even more. His tears are making me want to forgive him but I know that I can't do that after the pain he's just caused me. I let go of his hands and have to look away from him as I shakily take a breath in, hoping I'm not about to regret what I'm about to say. "It means we're over, James."

I turn around towards Camille and she smiles sadly at me as she puts an arm around my shoulder. As she starts leading me towards her car, I start breaking down and if it wasn't for her support, I probably would have fallen to the ground and curled up to cry until my eyes were dry. I can hear James starting to walk after us and I try not to look back at him, not knowing if I can keep my decision if I see the pain on his face. "Lauren, don't do this."

I just shake my head at this and I can hear him stop walking before Carlos starts talking. "Just let her go, man."

"But I can't," I hear James says as Camille opens the passenger door of her car. I pause before getting in, feeling like I'm making the worst decision of my life. But I get in the car and let Camille take me away from the Palmwoods.

As we leave the parking lot, I can't help but look out the window towards where we left James. He is holding on to Carlos and I know he's crying. I whisper to myself when I can no longer see him, "I'm sorry, James."

I pull my legs up to my chest and rest my chin on my knees as Camille drives me away from the love of my life and I let the tears fall. She doesn't say anything to me and I'm thankful that she understands that I don't feel like talking right now. When she pulls up in front of the familiar building that holds Rocque Records, I look over at her in confusion.

"Logan sent me a text saying this would be the best place to take you since I unfortunately have an audition in an hour. He figured Kelly would be the next best person for you to see," she frowns at me before hugging me tightly. "I'm so sorry that I can't stay with you. But Logan will be here as soon as he can make sure that he won't be followed."

"Thank you for doing what you could," I whisper as I cry against her shoulder. She lets go of me before my car door opens. I turn around and see Kelly who helps me out of the car before I fall into her arms. Once I'm out of the car, Kelly thanks Camille before closing the door. As she leads me into the building, I hear Camille drive away.

Once we're waiting for the elevator, my tears come back in full force as I try to talk to Kelly through my sobs. "Kelly, I'm an idiot."

"Shhh, it's going to be okay," she says as she pulls me into the elevator and presses the button on the wall. As we start going up, she hugs me tightly and I start feeling better that she is there to take care of me like she has for years. When the doors open, we step out on our floor and she leads me over to one of the couches. She sits me down before kneeling in front of me, both hands on my shoulder. "Now, do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really but I probably should since it involves James and you have to work with him." I pause to wipe away some tears. "Well I went back to the Palmwoods and I was going to meet up with James by the pool. But when I finally saw him, he- he was-" I break off as a new wave of tears starts to overwhelm me. Kelly hugs me and tries to comfort me as I shake with the tears. "He was kissing some girl."

"Honey, I am so sorry," she whispers and lets me cry on her shoulder while trying to calm me down for a few minutes. "Lauren," she starts to say tentatively after a few minutes have passed. "I've known James for two years now. He's made quite a few mistakes over that time but I know he would never purposely hurt you like that."

"Well he did," I say against her shirt and she sighs but lets me continue crying while rubbing my shoulders comfortingly. After a while my sobs stop and I just shake with silent tears.

Her phone rings and she pulls away to look at it. After reading the text, she looks back up at me. "Okay you're ride is here and they made sure James doesn't know where you are."

I nod my head as she stands up to meet them at the door. "Hey Kelly? Are you going to tell my uncle about this? I don't want this ruining his career."

Kelly smiles sadly at this as she grabs my hand and makes me stand up. "I'll just tell him you need some space from him so you don't have to come in for a few days. Gustavo might flip out about it, especially now that we have the tour to prepare for but I'll make him deal with it."

She starts leading me towards the elevator and I sigh at how life had turned around completely in just a couple hours. Was it really only this morning that James and I had been at the beach together, happy and in love? As we travel down in the elevator, Kelly doesn't say anything and I appreciate her knowing that I need some time to just think. My tears have finally stopped but now I just feel numb inside, not knowing what to even feel about this situation anymore.

When the doors open, Logan is waiting for us and he immediately embraces me in a tight hug. "Don't worry, Lauren, I'm here for you," he says before starting to lead me to the van parked outside. He opens the door for me and I get in without protesting, drained of energy after all the crying.

Logan gets in his side and starts the car but before we leave, I roll down my window. "Kelly, thank you for letting me come here."

"Don't worry about it, Lauren. And please call me if you need anything," she says with a sad smile before waving at me as Logan start driving back home.

I bring my knees up and hug them to my chest as Logan makes the short drive back to the Palmwoods. I start thinking about how him and Camille had tried to stop me from going to the pool and I begin questioning why they did that. "Hey Logan? Why did you and Camille stop me in the doorway to the pool?"

Logan sighs as he turns into the Palmwoods parking lot and waits until he parks to answer me. "Because that girl was practically throwing herself at James and we didn't want you seeing that. But we didn't know it was going to get to where it did." He looks over at me and I can tell he's also not happy with this situation. "I've known James for years now and he never realizes what he has until he messes up and loses it."

I start frowning at this before opening my door. "I still hate him for doing this to me," I say as Logan gets out of his door. As he starts leading me towards the lobby, I start sighing at the fact that everyone is going to know what happened with me and James. Or worse, I might end up seeing him.

Logan seems to know what I'm thinking as we make our way through the lobby and I try to ignore the sad looks that everyone is giving me. "Don't worry, he's up in our apartment with Carlos." Logan pauses as the elevator doors open and we step on, thankfully being the only two heading up. "I can't imagine what you're feeling right now but James is definitely not taking this well."

I frown at this as we step out on to my floor and slowly make our way to my apartment. It still hurts to know that James is in pain from this situation, regardless that it was his fault. I guess even after him putting me through this, I still care way too much about him. But you can't really just stop loving someone just because they do something stupid. When we get to my door, I can tell that Logan is planning on leaving once I'm inside and I give him a pleading look. "Look, I know we're not the closest but can you please stay with me for a while?"

"Of course I will," he says quietly before I unlock my door, feeling slightly better that I don't have to be alone right now. "Do you want me to have Camille come over once she's done with her audition?" He asks as I start walking towards my couch. I nod my head as he sits down next to me and pulls me closer to him. The pain of what happened hits me again and I start crying as I rest my head on his shoulder. "I'll have her bring over Lucy as well and you can have a girls night to try to distract you."

"That would be great," I whisper as he takes out his phone and sends a text. When he's done, he sets the phone down next to him before wrapping his arm around me again. We stay like this for a while, Logan not saying much and letting me just cry against him. Being in his arms feels comforting and I know that even though he's not the guy that I'm the closest friend with, he still would do anything for me.

After a while, there's a knock on my door and Logan gets up to answer it. Panic briefly starts filling me as I think it's James there and I don't want him to answer it because I can't handle seeing James currently. Logan seems to know what I'm thinking as he looks through the peephole and looks back at me. "Lauren, relax, it's just Camille and Lucy."

Logan opens the door and the two girls come in, carrying a few bags. They walk over to me and I try to smile at them. Lucy sets down her bags before holding up two bottles of wine. "So I got wine so we can drink and forget about that loser."

Camille shakes her head at this before dumping her bags on the table. Tons of candy spills out and I feel myself cheering up slightly. "And I got a bunch of your favorite candy so we can sit around and forget about stupid boys."

"Hey!" Logan says offended and I roll my eyes at this.

"I wasn't talking about you," Camille says without looking at him.

"Good," he says before walking back to me and hugging me. "Now that you have the girls here, I'm going to head to my apartment. Try to have some fun."

I genuinely smile at him, feeling better with everything my friends are doing for me. "Thank you for everything, Logan."

"Just let me know any time you need me," he smiles at me before heading towards the door.

After it closes behind him, I turn towards the two girls with me. "Please pour me some wine," I say and Lucy laughs at this.

The front door slams open and we all jump as Rachel storms in. "That asshole is lucky his friends won't let me in their apartment because if I see him, I'm going to punch him so hard."

I raise my eyebrows at her knowing what happened since she had been busy all day working and I had been so upset that I hadn't even thought to tell her. But when I see how livid she is, I start worrying about James' wellbeing. "Rachel, please don't do anything to him."

She sighs at this as she comes over to the couch and pulls me in to a tight hug. "I am so sorry this happened to you," she whispers to me and I try hard not to let myself start crying again. My eyes were starting to hurt at this point from how many tears I have let fall. She doesn't completely let go of me as she sits down next to me, keeping an arm around my waist. "Don't worry, a little girl time will make you forget about him."

As Lucy passes me a glass of wine, I look around at my friends and know that spending some time with them and drinking wine can help me forget about what happened today. But as I take a sip of wine, I know in my heart that I don't want to forget about James.


	18. Chapter 18

**Drama, drama, drama in this chapter. Enjoy and please review!**

* * *

 **Chapter 18:**

A knock on my door makes me sigh, not wanting to move from where I'm lying on my couch. Everyone had to go work today, leaving me to sit around moping all day. Last night had been a nice distraction, it was only temporary and as soon as everyone left, the pain of breaking up with James came right back. The pain was even worse now, this time a more a dull ache that was always present compared to last night's heartache.

Curiosity gets the better of me and I slowly get up and make my way over to the door, wondering who it is. Looking through the peephole, I don't see anyone standing out there so I open the door and peek my head out, checking to make sure James isn't there. Once I check that the coast is clear, I notice the heart-shaped box of chocolates sitting on the ground with a note on top of it. I pick up the note and read it quickly. _I'm sorry, Lauren._

The note makes me scoff before I crumple it up and throw it down the hallway. Turning my attention back to the box of chocolates, I pick them up and wonder if James really thought a box of chocolate was going to make up for him breaking my heart yesterday. I shake my head at the thought of him giving a lame apology as I grab a peanut butter chocolate from the box. Tossing it down the hallway, I turn back into my apartment and slam the door behind me. I'm sure James was watching around the corner for my reaction and I wanted to make sure he knew I was still upset with him.

As I walk towards my room, I eat the piece of chocolate and start feeling upset again from James' reminder that we're over. I sigh as I pick up my guitar from beside my bed before heading back out to the couch. Maybe playing my guitar would make me feel better and take my mind off of things. I lie down on the couch and stare up at the ceiling, strumming randomly while trying to process everything that happened yesterday. The morning had started out so perfect at the beach with James. Then we found out about the world tour which was so exciting to find out about but will now probably be miserable and awkward. Well, that's assuming that this doesn't completely ruin my friendship with the guys. No, that won't happen. Carlos will still be my friend once this situation is done hurting so much.

I start paying attention to what I'm playing on my guitar and stop playing immediately when I realize I'm playing Sparks Fly. I groan as I put my hands over my face. Why did James have to affect me so much? Everything about him made me experience such passionate and crazy emotions. Yet losing him might just be the worst thing to happen in my life. I knew I couldn't lose him but it happened.

My mind betrays my heart and starts thinking about the crazy whirlwind that was dating James. From the start, I was so crazy about him and there was nothing I could have done about it. And once I finally had him, everything had felt right in the world and for a time, I had genuinely thought he was the person I was meant to be with. And that just makes forgetting him so impossible to do. How can you give up a love that is so passionate and strong?

I look back down at my guitar, knowing I want to write a song about all these emotions I'm feeling but the words just won't come to my head. I pull out my phone and send a text to my uncle. _'Hey, I need to write something but I'm struggling with getting my thoughts into lyrics. Can you help me?'_

I pack up my guitar while waiting for a response. If he doesn't answer within five minutes, I was just going to head over to Rocque Records. But sure enough, my phone buzzes in a minute and I chuckle at my uncle's response. _'Of course, I'm a song writing genius.'_

I grab my guitar and keys before heading out of my apartment, hoping that I won't run into James while leaving the Palmwoods. But if I don't see him in the hotel, there's a good possibility that I will see him at the studio. At least they didn't have any songs to record so I might be able to avoid seeing him. As I walk through the lobby, I try to pass by the people there quickly, not wanting to receive their pity. The Jennifers give me sympathetic smiles and I try to return them, knowing they're my friends and genuinely care.

I get to my car with receiving very few looks of pity and quickly make my way over to Rocque Records, anxious to write this song. Luckily the studio is so close that within five minutes of leaving the Palmwoods, I'm heading up the elevator to the studio. As the doors open, I take a deep breath and prepare myself for possibly seeing James. I try to walk as quickly and quietly as possible to the recording booth. Once I hear music coming from the dance studio, I sigh in relief that they're rehearsing right now and slow down my pace.

I walk in the recording studio and see my uncle waiting for me and with an open chair next to him. He pats it and I sit down at it right away. "So L-dog, Kelly won't tell me very much and the dumb monkey dog is depressed right now so I can only assume that something happened between the two of you. And I'm trying not to get too angry at him but you wanting to write a song is making me feel better." This makes me laugh, knowing that even if he doesn't show it often, he really does care about me. "So what are you trying to get into song lyrics?"

I sigh as I lean back in the chair, trying to collect all of my thoughts. "I want to write about a love that is so passionate and intense. But then losing it is so terrible and you want to forget it, but you can't because the love makes you feel so great."

My uncle sits back and holds his hands in front of him. His eyes start squinting as he stares at the wall and I know he's deep in thought about how this could make a hit song. I let him go through his writing process as I continue thinking about the emotions, trying to think of something I could relate them to. And when I finally figure it out, I turn to my uncle in excitement because he hasn't thought of anything yet. "Red!"

"Red?" he asks and gives me a look like I'm losing it. "What does red have to do with what you described to me?"

"Red is an intense color, so why not relate it to passion and all of these crazy feelings I've been having?" I start hitting my uncle on the arm, feeling excitement about figuring out how to compare all of the emotions I'm feeling to something that will show them well. "And the emotions about losing that love can be all these dark colors."

My uncle's face lights up and I know that he's figured out how to write out the lyrics. "I've got this! Give me a few minutes and I'll have it because I'm a genius."

I sit back and watch my uncle start frantically writing lyrics down. His ability to come up with such amazing lyrics in such a short amount of time still surprises me sometimes and I've seen him do this my whole life. As he writes, Kelly joins us and stays quiet with me, both of us knowing it is a bad idea to disturb him when he's writing. I raise an eyebrow in surprise when after only fifteen minutes, he moves over to the keyboard and starts playing some chords, writing some down and ignoring others.

Finally, my uncle turns towards me and holds out two piles of music. "Well, here you go. One finished song called Red because I'm a genius and way more talented than your father." I ignore the comment about my dad, not feeling like getting into that years old rivalry they have. Taking the sheets, I look over the lyrics and realize that he perfectly captured my emotions towards James. There's two lines that stick out to me throughout the whole song. The first being 'Touching him was like realizing all you ever wanted was right there in front of you' because dating James had made me feel like that and how I only wanted him. But the second line is from the chorus and god, it captures how I feel about trying to move on from him so well.

I surprise my uncle by hugging him. "Thank you, the song is perfect." The second line keeps echoing in my head, a constant reminder that things had ended. _Forgetting him was like trying to know somebody you never met, but loving him was red._

My uncle starts hugging me back and I can feel my eyes start watering up at the display of affection from him and the pain of losing James coming back to me. "You're welcome. I want you to feel better and if writing a song for you will do that, I would write a hundred songs." He lets go of me so that he can look at me. "Now let's go record this song so we can try making you feel better."

* * *

As I leave the recording studio, I freeze as soon as I enter the hallway and see James looking at me expectantly. I shake my head at him, not trusting myself to speak because I might end up just forgiving him, especially after just singing a song that reminded me about how passionate our love was. As I look away, I briefly see the crushed look on his face that I won't talk to him.

I leave Rocque Records, trying not to start crying again as I think about how upset James looked and him wanting me to forgive him. When I get in my car and start it, the radio turns on and Music Sounds Better With U starts playing. I groan in frustration when I hear James' voice and turn it off immediately. I lean my forehead against the steering wheel and try to get my thoughts off of him. But it's so hard to when every little thing reminds me of him.

Collecting myself, I sit up and start driving out of the parking lot, determined to get my mind off of James. And when I enter the lobby of the Palmwoods, I get my distraction as the Jennifers call out my name and wave me over to where they're sitting by the pool. I go over to them and sit down at the open chair they all point to. "Hey, what's up?"

"We've been doing some watching of the new girl," blonde Jennifer says with a nod of her head to the right. I look over across the pool and see the girl who was kissing James yesterday sitting with a couple guys laughing. My hands clench into fists and I can feel my blood starting to boil as I think about this girl kissing him. I turn back to the girls, filled with anger. "What about her?"

Brunette Jennifer leans in over the table and looks at the other two before whispering, "She's a major slut."

The others nod their heads in agreement at this before the curly hair Jennifer adds, "She's been practically throwing herself at anything that has a dick between its legs." I look over at the girl again, noticing the guys surrounding her and how she keeps trying to touch them in some way, be it a brush of their legs or a hand on their arm.

"And we think we need to go teach her a lesson about who runs the Palmwoods around here," blonde Jennifer says as I turn back towards them and she starts smirking. "Not some new slut, but us four." She waves her hands around the table and the other two nod their heads in agreement.

They all look at me expectantly, waiting for my answer. I think about how heartbroken I've been ever since I saw the new girl kissing James yesterday. And now we're not even dating anymore and it tears me up inside every time I remember I can't call him mine. "I'm in," I say after a minute of thinking, knowing that it might at least make me feel temporarily better to put this girl in her place.

They all stand up and start walking over to the new girl, smoothies in hand. I get up and start following them quickly. When the guys with the new girl see the Jennifers approaching, they run away, knowing who runs the Palmwoods. We reach where the girl is sitting and I plaster a fake smile on my face after seeing the Jennifers do the same.

"Hi, we noticed you're new here and thought we'd come say hello," blonde Jennifer says sweetly and I have to try not to scoff at how she is so far from being sweet at the moment.

"Oh, um, thanks," the new girl replies and it's clear that she's confused about why we are talking to her. Clearly she wasn't used to having someone approach her that wasn't of the male gender. "Um, I'm Megan."

"I'm Lauren and they're Jennifer," I say as I sit down in the seat next to her, not waiting for an invitation to sit down. The girls sit down next to me and I start feeling a little bad about what we're about to do to the girl, but then again, she is the reason James and I are no longer dating.

"So what did you move out here to do?" brunette Jennifer asks her and I start wondering how these girls are not super famous yet with how great their acting is.

"I'm getting into acting. I've been trying to convince my dad to let us move out here for years and he finally did."

"That's so great," I say, not particularly caring about talking with her. Normally I would have enjoyed welcoming a new person and genuinely liked it, but with this girl it's different. Since I came here to teach her a lesson, not chit-chat, I get right to the point. "So have you met anyone?"

"Yeah, all of the guys here are super nice," she says with a smile and it takes all of my effort to not call her out. Most of the guys have probably shown interest in her because she can't keep her legs shut.

The curly hair Jennifer realizes where I'm trying to go with the conversation and tries to see if she can continue it. "Anyone in particular catch your eye?"

Megan starts smirking and I fight the urge to slap it off of her face. "Yeah, there's this totally hot guy and he's absolutely beautiful. He has this weird lucky comb and it's kind of stupid, but whatever, I can deal with that. Especially because he's such a good kisser," she shrugs after this.

I grip the edge of the table tightly in anger to the point where my knuckles are starting to turn white. How dare she kiss James. And his lucky comb isn't stupid, it's cute how he thinks it's his lucky charm. It takes a look from blonde Jennifer for me to release my grip on the table and put a fake smile on again before Megan notices. "I'm not sure I know who you're talking about."

"Really?" she says and laughs lightly. "Then you must not have lived here for that long. I don't know how you don't know him. He's in that stupid boy band Big Time Rush. I think his name was James."

The fact that she doesn't like BTR and doesn't even remember his name for sure lights the fuse on my anger. I backhand her across the face so quickly that I'm surprised by my actions and she couldn't have stopped me if she tried.

She clutches her face with one hand and I can see some of the red mark on her face from where I hit her. She stares at me with her mouth open in shock before yelling at me. "What the fuck was that for?" She pulls back the arm that isn't on her face to try to punch me.

I stop her hand easily and pull her up as I twist her arm behind her back. I scoff at her, "That was for kissing _my_ boyfriend James; for not liking Big Time Rush; and for just being a slut." She struggles to get out of my grip but I just hold on to her arm tighter. I lean towards her and surprise myself with how cruel I sound but this girl deserves it for ruining my relationship. "Next time you try to punch someone, you might want to make sure that they didn't have a couple months of combat training."

I let go of her and she falls to the ground, glaring up at me as I sit down in my chair, crossing my arms at her. "You see, I can actually get an acting role around here while keeping my legs shut, so I was in The Hunger Games. Now, you need to learn to stop being such a whore and don't kiss other people's boyfriends."

Megan gets up and tries to hit me again. "Who do you think you are that you can do this?"

I stop her easily and start laughing at how pathetic her attempts to hit me are. "I'm Lauren Rocque," I pause when I see her shocked face and start smirking. "Yes you heard right. Rocque as in my dad is David Rocque, the top director in Hollywood, my mom is Scarlet Rocque, a world famous actress, and my uncle Gustavo Rocque is a famous record producer." I stand up then and look down at her. "So if you ever want to get an acting job in this town, I'd watch who you try to get with. And stay away from James Diamond or anyone from Big Time Rush."

I turn to start walking away and the Jennifers stand up to leave with me. I see out of the corner of my eye them throwing their smoothies at her face. She cries out and I hear people around the pool laughing as she runs towards the lobby. As I get back to the table they had been sitting at, I can't help but feel a little guilty about what we just did. I'm not normally a mean person. But then I remember the image of her kissing James and my blood starts boiling in anger again. And I know it needed to be done. As the Jennifers sit back down, I pick up my guitar from where I set it down. "I'm going to head up to my apartment. But thanks for teaching that girl a lesson."

"It's no problem, Lauren," curly hair Jennifer says and genuinely smiles at me.

Brunette Jennifer adds to this, "Yeah we'll always look out for you."

"Especially when sluts try to steal your boyfriend," blonde Jennifer finishes.

"Wait, you don't think it was his fault?" I ask them confused and sit down briefly, wanting to her what they think.

"Not at all," blonde Jennifer responds and the other two nod their heads. "We were all down here yesterday when they kissed. She was all over James and I could tell he was trying to push her away."

"Oh," is all I say, not knowing what else to say to them right now. If that's the case, that completely changes what happened between James and I. "Well I'm going up to my apartment. Bye girls."

"Bye Lauren!" They say as I start walking back to the lobby. So James wasn't at fault here according to the Jennifers. And if that was the case with James not wanting to kiss her, well that might mean we could resume dating. But not right now, he still hurt me and I can't forgive him yet. I'm so focused on thinking about what happened and what I should do about James that I don't notice the person standing in front of the elevator until I bump into them. "Oh I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking," I say quickly.

The person starts laughing at this and when they turn around, I realize it is Carlos. "Of course you weren't paying attention to where you're going."

"Shut up," I say and jokingly hit him on the arm as the elevator doors open. Carlos laughs at this and we step on. "So are you guys done rehearsing for the day?"

"Yeah we are," he says as he pushes the buttons for our two floors and the doors close. "But what have you been up to today? I heard you were at Rocque Records earlier."

"Oh, yeah, I recorded a new song with my uncle," I say and look down at the floor sadly, reminded of the fact that I saw James and things still aren't right with us.

The doors open on his floor and he sticks his arm out to hold it open. "Hey, everything is going to be fine. Things will find a way to work themselves out."

"I sure hope so," I say as he steps out and the doors start closing.

He shouts at me as the doors close. "I'm here for you if you need me!"

I sigh and lean against the walls for the short ride up to my floor. Not that I'm by myself again, it's hard to fight off the sadness that seems to always be present since James and I broke up.

The doors open and I step out only to be stopped right away because James is standing there. I can feel my heart breaking again as I go to walk around him and he does nothing to stop me. "Please just listen to me, Lauren."

I pause when I hear how upset he is and turn around to face him. When I see the sad look on his face, I start feeling angry more than upset because if anyone should be feeling more hurt in this situation, it's me. And maybe that's a little unfair, but I'm not reasonable when I'm upset. "No, James, you listen to me," I say and poke him on his chest. "Do you know how much it hurt to see you kissing some random girl? Especially after you told me how you'll always love me?"

His face drops and his eyes start to become glossy with tears. "It wasn't my fault," he says quietly and my anger starts to fade away when I realize just how much this is bothering him. "Please forgive me."

I sigh at this, wanting so badly to just forgive him and make everything better but I'm still hurt. "It's going to take a lot more than a simple apology for me to forgive you. It's going to take something special." I turn away from him before I can see the pain on his face and walk the short distance to my apartment. I quickly walk in and as I close the door, I lean against it and slide down to the ground. I sit there and put my face in my hands as the tears start to come once again.

I stay there crying for who knows how long, not knowing how to get over this pain from losing James. It's only when I hear a key clicking in the lock that I move away, not wanting to get hit by Rachel opening the door. When she walks in and sees me on the ground, face probably red from all of the crying, she immediately drops her purse and reaches down to pull me up. I let her put her arms around me tightly and I start crying on her shoulder. "Lauren, I'm so sorry that I couldn't stay with you all day."

She leads me over to the couch and sits me down before grabbing some blankets. As I wipe away some tears, she comes over and wraps me in several. I let her do this, feeling a little comforted by her caring for me. I lay down on the couch as she sits down next to me, rubbing my shoulder comfortingly. "Honey, do you want to talk about it?" I shake my head at this and she sighs but listens to my request. We have both gone through break ups together and she's learned that it is better for her to listen to my requests. "Try to get some rest. I'll be with you all night." I listen to what she says and close my eyes, trying to get some sleep but knowing that if I can't, I'll have my best friend with me to comfort me.

* * *

A sharp knock pierces through the apartment and I groan as I move my face out of the pillows on my couch. Why does everyone have to keep bothering me? And I had finally been able to get some restful sleep and was looking forward to not being completely exhausted. "Go away," I feebly shout towards the door, not really wanting to talk to anyone right now.

The knocking stops and I sigh in relief. Thank god the person left. Now I can get back to sleep. I turn back towards the pillows when my phone buzzes on the floor next to me. I glance over and see a text from Carlos. I sigh as I reach over to grab it, wondering what he wants right now. _'It's me, would you please open your door?'_

' _Just come in, it should be open,'_ I respond to him quickly before letting my phone drop back to the floor. A minute passes before the door opens and I hear Carlos walking over to the couch. "What do you want?"

He kneels down on the floor in front of the couch so that he's at my eye level. I frown at how he seems to be in a good mood when I just want to be miserable. "I'm not going to let you mope around in your apartment anymore. So we are going down to the pool."

I roll over to face the side of the couch, annoyed with Carlos already. "But I don't want to."

I hear him sigh in frustration at this but don't make any effort to stop him from being annoyed with me. "Lauren, you can't stay locked up in here forever."

"Yeah I can," I respond to him and shrug my shoulders as best as I can while laying down. Carlos doesn't respond to this and instead picks me up suddenly. He throws me over his shoulder and I start hitting him on his back. "Carlos, put me down!"

"Nope," he replies, making a popping noise as he walks out of my apartment. He starts heading towards the elevator as I continue hitting him. "You decided to be stubborn about coming with me to the pool," he says as we step in the elevator and he pushes the button for the ground floor. "So now you have to deal with me carrying you down."

I sigh as the doors close and we start moving down. I lie across his shoulder feeling defeated and don't move. "You suck."

Carlos just laughs at me as the doors open and he walks out. "I love you too, Lauren," he jokingly says as he walks to the pool. We get a few stares from people, probably wondering why Carlos is carrying me like that but I ignore them. He eventually puts me in a chair at a table by the pool with Lucy and Camille.

"Nice to actually see you out of your apartment," Lucy says sarcastically.

"Yeah, we were starting to think that after our girls night you were just going to stay in your room for good," Camille adds and even though I know they're just joking around with me, I still feel a little hurt that they think that.

"Well I would have, but someone had to literally pick me up and drag me down here," I say and glare over at Carlos.

Carlos doesn't notice this because he's too busy looking over at the other side of the pool. "Are those two seriously arguing again? They keep doing it and it is part of the reason why Gustavo sent us home early today."

I glance over at where he's looking and see Kendall and Logan arguing loudly. "Logan, just shut up! It's all James' fault!"

"No, it wasn't!" Logan yells back before hitting Kendall on the chest.

This causes the two to start fighting and I sigh as I turn back to everyone sitting at our table. "What are they arguing about now?"

"Kendall thinks it is all James' fault that you two broke up," Lucy says and shrugs her shoulders.

"And Logan thinks it wasn't his fault because we were down here when it happened," Camille adds. "They've been fighting over this since you guys broke up."

"Oh," I say and look down at the ground, feeling terrible that this situation is not only making me upset but now it's causing my friends to argue with each other. I hear them yell and look up just in time to see them falling into the pool. Standing in their spot is Katie, a smirk on her face. The guys pop up in the water and giving her a look asking what that was for. But she just shrugs her shoulders and starts heading around the pool. I start laughing at the guys and give Katie a fist bump when she passes me. That managed to make me genuinely smile for the first time since things ended with James. I turn around to the table and my smile instantly turns to a frown when I see the new person sitting with us.

James is sitting there, looking at me hopefully, probably because I'm down at the pool and not in my apartment. His hair is a complete mess, unlike its normal perfectly kept way. He doesn't look good and I try to ignore this as I turn to Lucy and Camille. "So Camille, have you gotten any new acting roles lately?"

She looks between me and James before responding, clearly not knowing what to do in this situation. "Uh, yeah. I actually just found out yesterday that I got the lead role in a new movie with Johnny Depp…" she fades off as she looks uncomfortably at James who has moved his chair next to me.

"Lauren, would you please talk-"

"What about you, Lucy? How's your music going?" I ask, interrupting James from talking to me. And yeah, it's rude of me to do this but he hasn't given me any reasons yet to talk to him and forgive him.

Lucy looks over at Camille before responding. "Well I'm working on a new album-"

"That's great," I say, stopping her from continuing. "You know, I was thinking about writing a new song. I think a good title would be 'I'm so mad at the person sitting next to me who broke my heart' but of course, the title might change to something shorter. Maybe 'I don't want to talk'."

Carlos just mutters, "Awkward."

I look over at him, past James and try not to look at the pain on his face. "I'm going back up to my room now, Carlos. I don't want to stay down here any longer." I stand up and looks at him expectantly. "Are you coming with me?"

He glances over at James sympathetically before standing up and walking over to me. "Yeah, I guess."

I loop my arm through his and start dragging him towards the lobby. I hear a chair pushed across the concrete and I know that it's James who got up to follow us without looking back. "Lauren, can you just stop and talk to me?"

I sigh as we keep walking through the lobby. Carlos glances over his shoulder at James but I keep dragging him along with me. People stare at us, probably because James is following us but I ignore them as we get to the elevator where Tyler was just getting out. I walk in and push the button for my floor, watching the doors close as James stands there looking at me desperately.

"Okay, that was rude," Carlos says when the elevator starts moving.

I start feeling a little bad about how I was acting towards him, especially if this whole situation wasn't really his fault. "What, me ignoring him?"

"Yes!" Carlos responds like it's obvious.

I sigh before looking at him. "What do you expect me to do, Carlos? He broke my heart. Do you honestly expect me to just forgive him right away?"

He frowns at this as the doors open, knowing I'm right. "I just think you should try talking to him."

"Not going to happen," I say as I walk out, heading the short distance towards my apartment. Once the door is open, I head straight to the couch and lie down. "Ugh, I'm not happy with you right now."

"Why not?" Carlos asks, somehow confused as he sits down next to me.

"Because you made me go down to the pool. If I didn't, I wouldn't have seen you-know-who."

His response is completely sarcastic. "You saw Voldemort down by the pool?"

I laugh a throw a pillow over at him. "You know what I meant."

"I know. How about to make it up to you, we have an all-night Harry Potter movie marathon?" He asks and smiles at me.

"Are you sure? That's a big time commitment," I start smiling when I see him nod his head excitedly. "Well sounds like a plan, but Rachel might get mad that we started without her. I hope for both of our sakes that she gets out of work early today."

Carlos laughs and jumps off of the couch so that he can run over to the TV to get the movies ready. While he takes care of that, I head to the kitchen and put a bag of popcorn in the microwave. Then I go over to the cabinet to grab the large candy stash from there and start tossing things over to Carlos on the couch. When the popcorn is done, I put it in a big bowl and walk back over to the couch.

I sit down next to him and he wraps an arm around me as he starts the movie. "Thanks for doing this, Carlos. I really appreciate you trying to cheer me up."

He looks down at me and kisses the top of my head. "Hey, that's what friends are for. To cheer you up when other friends make a huge mistake." I start frowning at this, realizing that he's talking about James and I start feeling upset again. He notices immediately. "Hey, don't be sad. We're going to have a fun night watching Harry Potter, okay? And you're not going to think about him, I forbid it."

I chuckle at this and turn back to the TV. "Okay Carlos, whatever you say."

We continue watching the movie and sure enough, it does take my mind off of James for a little while. About halfway through the first movie, Rachel gets home and cheers in excitement when she finds out we're having a marathon tonight. She immediately sits down on the other side of me and cuddles next to me. As we continue watching, I can't help but start feeling better, having my two best friends next to me.


	19. Chapter 19

**Bit of a short chapter but a fun one! Let me know what you think and please review!**

* * *

 **Chapter 19:**

I wake up the next morning to a text on my phone. Squinting at my screen, I try to read the text while still being half asleep. _'Hey can you come to the studio? Your uncle has a new song for you.'_

I sigh and quickly tell her that I'll be there in a half hour. As I set my phone back down, I look over at the couch next to me. Instead of finding Carlos still there, a note is in his place. I pick it up confused and read it over. _I had to go to the studio early and didn't want to wake you up. I'll see you later :)._

I smile and set the note down on the table in front of the couch before standing up and stretching. Walking into my bedroom and towards my bathroom, I glance at the clock and realize I've slept in until after noon. But I guess that's what happens when you stay up late watching movies and haven't gotten very much sleep the past few days.

I quickly take a shower, having realized that I've been neglecting that for the past couple of days and I'm probably gross at this point. Once done, I throw on a t-shirt and pair of shorts, not really caring what I look like. Grabbing my purse and keys, I leave my apartment and run down the stairs towards the lobby. I make my way through to the parking lot without seeing the guys, which means they're probably still at the studio. And that means I'll probably have to see James.

I sigh as I get in my car. At this point, I'm not really sure what to think any more about this situation. I guess I don't think it was entirely his fault, but I'm still mad that it happened. As I start driving towards Rocque Records, I contemplate forgiving him. If I do, he's going to have to do something really special so that I know he won't do something like this again. I park my car outside the studio and head up the elevator. When I get to the floor, I can hear two people yelling. Before I round the corner, I realize who it is right before I see them.

"Where were you last night?" James ask Carlos harshly with his arms crossed.

"I was with Lauren," Carlos responds coolly, surprisingly not letting James bother him.

"Why?" James asks and I can tell that he's angry and slightly hurt.

I stand there watching as Carlos huffs and runs a hand through his hair. "I was trying to make her feel better! If you haven't noticed, she's been super upset!"

James looks down at the ground and starts frowning. I hate seeing him upset and it makes me want to run to his arms and comfort him. "Of course I know that," he replies quietly.

"Well you haven't done much about it! So sorry that last night I was trying to make one of my best friends feel better because of a stupid mistake that you made!" Carlos responds angrily to him, poking him in the chest before sighing in frustration and turning around.

As Carlos starts heading towards the exit, James looks up at him and sees me standing there. He starts walking over to me as I try to make my way into the recording studio while not making eye contact with him. "Lauren, can we please talk?"

He reaches out and places a hand on my shoulder that I quickly knock off, not being able to stand that little touch from him. I refrain from turning around to look at him, knowing that I might forgive him right then and there if I make eye contact with him. "I'm sorry, James, but I have to go record a new song."

I continue walking towards the room while James just stands there. My uncle walks out right before I walk in and starts yelling at James. "What are you still doing here?"

"I-I was, um, just leaving," he says awkwardly and I pause in the doorway to look at him. He starts to leave but turns around to look at me, begging for me to talk to him.

I turn away from him sadly and look at my uncle, waiting for James to leave. "So you wanted me to record a new song?"

"Yes, come with me," Gustavo says before walking into the recording studio. I follow him in and see Kelly standing there. She hands me the music and I look over it. "So I won't make you sing Crazy In Love. We might just leave your album with one less song. But for now, I was once again able to write a song that was inspired by your life."

I sigh at this but I'm smiling at him as I shake my head. "Why do you keep doing that?"

He shrugs before lightly pushing me towards the recording booth. "Because your life is very inspiring for songs. Now go sing it!"

I go over to the microphone and put the headphones on before he starts the music. I start singing along to the song. "You can't touch me now, there's no feelings left. If you think I'm coming back, don't hold your breath. What you did to me, boy I can't forget. If you think I'm coming back, don't hold your breath."

I look out at my uncle and give him a confused look as I start the first verse wondering if he really did write a song about how I should move on from James. "I was under your spell for such a long time, couldn't break the chains. You played with my heart, tore me apart with all your lies and games. It took all the strength I had but I crawled up on my feet again. Now you're trying to lure me back, don't you know those days are gone my friend. I loved you so much that I thought someday that you could change. But all you brought me was a heart full of pain."

And when I get to the chorus again, I'm mad at my uncle for portraying James to be horrible to me. The second verse continues to make James seem terrible and I'm reminded once again that my uncle really dislikes James. "I was worried about you but you never cared about me, no. You took my money and I know you, you could kill someone. I gave you everything but nothing was ever enough. You were always jealous over such crazy stuff."

By time I get to the bridge, I can't believe this song. I shake my head at how ridiculous this song is, not wanting to continue singing about my uncle's twisted view of how James is such a terrible boyfriend. "Move on, don't look back. I jumped off the train running off the tracks. Love is gone, face the facts. A bad movie ends and the screen fades to black. What you did to me boy I can't forget. If you think I'm coming back, don't hold your breath."

I sing through the chorus two more times before the song ends, continuing to get angry at my uncle. While I did have a reason to be mad at James, what he did was not nearly as bad as what Gustavo is making it seem like. Once finished, I just look out at my uncle. "Really?"

"What are you talking about?" he asks and tries to cover up that he knows exactly what I'm talking about.

"Did you really have to make it seem like James is a horrible guy?" I ask him and cross my arms, not happy with my uncle right now.

"Um, yeah, because he is," he pauses as I glare at him. "Just sing the song again!"

* * *

After completing the song, I get back to the Palmwoods and peer into the lobby, knowing James is probably going to try to talk to me when I get back. Not seeing him at all, I walk in and start to make my way over to the elevator quickly. I make it to the front desk before I hear someone start playing guitar. I pause and close my eyes and sigh when I hear James start singing. "You know you love me, I know you care. Just shout whenever and I'll be there."

I try to not just run away from there as I turn towards the pool area where James is standing there and playing the guitar. He smiles at me stopping and my heart starts to flutter a little, betraying the logic of my brain telling me to leave. "You are my love, you are my heart. And we will never, ever, ever be apart."

My brain kicks in over my heart and I start walking towards the elevator again, trying to ignore him as he continues singing and follows me. I push through people as I try to make my way towards the elevator, all of them stopping to watch us in confusion. "Are we an item? Girl quit playing. 'We're just friends?' What are you sayin'?"

I finally make my way on to the elevator but James follows me on. "Said 'There's another' and looked right in my eyes."

Sighing, I walk past him out of the elevator and into the stairwell, trying to get away from him singing. Because the longer I hear him singing to me, the more my heart wants to forgive him and the less control my brain has with logic. "My first love broke my heart for the first time," James sings as I start going up the stairs, trying to put as much distance between him as possible.

"And I was like baby, baby, baby, oh. Like baby, baby, baby, no. Like baby, baby, baby oh. I thought you'd always be mine, mine," James sings as I make my way up the first flight of stairs and damn does he sound good. And since when does he know how to play the guitar?

I shake off these thoughts as I'm about to start running up the second flight of stairs. James runs in front of me and starts walking backwards up the stairs, forcing me to look at him as he continues singing and I feel the last bit of my will to ignore him fading away. "Oh for you, I would have done whatever. And I just can't believe we ain't together." I try to go around him before my heart makes me do something stupid but he picks up his pace so I can't pass him. "And I want to play it cool, but I'm losing you. I'll buy you anything, I'll buy you any ring." He pauses playing the guitar so he can point to his left hand at this point.

I can't help but laugh lightly at this as I use the distraction to quickly go around him. James immediately starts walking behind me again as he continues singing with that amazing voice of his. "And I'm in pieces, baby fix me. And just shake me 'til you wake me from this bad dream. I'm going down, down, down, down. And I just can't believe my first love won't be around."

At this point, I've made it to the third set of stairs and I start running up them, hoping to get away from James as he starts singing the chorus again. He's slow behind me, not being able to keep up while trying to sing and play guitar. "And I'm like baby, baby, baby, oh. Like baby, baby, baby, no. Like baby, baby, baby, oh. Thought you'd always be mine, mine."

I throw open the door to my floor, prepared to run the short distance to my door so that I can get away from James and not throw myself at him, begging him to kiss me again. But I'm stopped by Logan standing there, blocking me from running down the hallway. He starts rapping and I question how he knew I would be there or was able to get the timing right with James. "When I was eighteen, I had my first love," I raise an eyebrow and the lyric change. "There was nobody who compared to my baby and nobody came between us or could ever come above. She had me going crazy, oh I was star struck. She woke me up daily, don't need no Starbucks."

Logan grabs my hand and spins me around in a circle, causing me to start laughing at this situation and him rapping the song. "She made my heart pound. I skip a beat when I see her on the street and at school on the playground. But I really want to see her on the weekend. She know she got me dazin', 'cause she was so amazin'. And now my heart is breaking, but I just keep on sayin'."

James starts singing again, having made it up to the third floor while Logan was singing. He's smiling at me as he starts walking backwards towards my door. I follow him, fighting the smile that wants to go on my face over him singing the song for me. "Baby, baby, baby, oh. Like baby, baby, baby, no. Like baby, baby, baby, oh. I thought you'd always be mine, mine."

James gets to my door and leans against it as he finishes the song and hits the final chord. When he starts smiling at me, I can't help but smile back at him, temporarily forgetting that he had made me so upset over the past few days. I open my mouth to start talking but he holds up a hand to interrupt me. "Before you saying anything, please just listen to me. I'm so sorry about what happened. I didn't mean for that to happen and while it wasn't my fault, I will take responsibility for it happening. I would never want to hurt you because you mean so much to me. Please forgive me."

As I look up at him, I can tell from the sad look on his face that he's telling the truth. And I just want to throw my arms around him and never let go. But my brain kicks in and reminds me of the pain I've been feeling over the past couple of days and I sigh. "So you thought singing a Justin Bieber song would make me forgive you?"

James shrugs at this and looks down at the ground while rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I figured he has millions of girls that love him when he sings this song. So I thought maybe if I sung it, I could get one girl to love me again."

I smile at this, touched that he went through so much effort to try and win me back. "You're ridiculous, you know that?" I say jokingly as I shake my head at him. "Also, how did you get Logan to work out the timing perfectly?"

James seems proud of this. "I figured you would run off when I started singing so I thought of where you might run to and put on of the guys in each spot. Logan got put outside your apartment, Carlos in the park, and Kendall by the pool." He shrugs at me, "Honestly I'm surprised that worked out as well as it did."

I chuckle at him getting all of the guys involved before getting serious. "But James, I know it wasn't your fault." And I really do believe now that he had absolutely no desire to kiss Megan. No guy would go through this much to try to win back a girl if he wanted to cheat and was caught.

James looks up at me, face full of hope and it's the first time I've seen him this happy since I broke up with him. "So you forgive me?"

"Not quite yet," I pause when he looks at me confused and sad. I quickly start explaining myself. "I appreciate all the effort that you put into learning the song, especially with learning how to play guitar for it. But think of it from my perspective: I saw you kissing someone else, regardless of it being your fault or not. That hurt me so much. So if you want me to completely forgive you, you're going to have to do something special."

"Like what?" he asks and I can see his face light up at the idea of finally having things completely fixed between us.

"I don't know. Just something to prove that you love me and you'll never do something stupid like that again."

"Alright, I'm on it," James replies excitedly as he grabs on to my hands. "Just wait, I'm going to do something so amazing for you that you'll never want to leave me again!" He takes off running down the hallways towards the stairs and I laugh at his eagerness before finally walking in to my apartment.

I find myself smiling as I walk over to the couch, feeling better than I have in days. Finally, things might be fixed between James and I and everything can go back to the way they should be.


	20. Chapter 20

**This chapter is probably in my top 3 favs so enjoy and please review!**

* * *

 **Chapter 20:**

As I roll over in my bed, I real relaxed and happier than I've been in several days. It takes a minute to remember why and when I do, I start smiling. James and I are finally almost back to normal and he probably is planning something super romantic. I get out of bed and make my way to the kitchen, rubbing my eyes and trying to wake up before making breakfast. I pause when I see a note sitting on my kitchen counter.

Why would Rachel leave me a note? I know that she's going to be busy at work again like she has been all week. My curiosity takes over as I pick up the note, wondering what Rachel could have written. But as I read over the note, I quickly realize that it was not Rachel. Rather, it's a note from James giving me instructions.

 _Your first clue is the place where we first met. I blocked your sun but I have no regret._

I stare at the note in confusion for a minute, wondering why in the world James left this for me. What is it a clue for? And what's so special about the pool besides it being the place where we met.

As I grab myself a muffin, I start eating it as I head back into my room to change out of my pajamas. I contemplate the clue and what James has in store for me. It said it was the first clue, so does that mean I will keep getting clues? Once my muffin is done and I have normal clothes on, I head out of my room and pick up my purse and car keys, not knowing exactly what James has planned for me today. I take off towards the stairs and run down them, starting to get excited about what I'm going to find by the pool.

Walking through the lobby, I pause at the doorway to the pool and look over to the seat I was on when I first met James and the guys a few months ago. Lying there now is Logan, listening to music just like I was and I know it isn't a coincidence that he's there. As I start walking towards Logan, he starts smiling when he sees me. "Good, you're here. I have stuff for you."

"Okay?" I ask him confused as he hands me another note, a rose, and a cd. "What is this?" I hold up the cd to him and raise an eyebrow.

"James made a cd of all of your favorite song," Logan chuckles as he thinks about something. "I heard him picking songs last night and I'm pretty sure the majority are BTR songs. Good to know we're one of your favorites."

"You always have been," I laugh before starting to head towards the lobby. "Thanks Logan for helping with whatever James has planned for me."

"No problem!" Logan shouts to me as I enter the lobby. I look down at the note, curious at what James has next.

 _Next is the place where so many hits are made. I first heard you sing and it felt like my own personal serenade._

I turn towards the front entrance, knowing that this next clue can only be talking about Rocque Records. I blush a little at thinking about his comment that me singing the first day was like me serenading him. Usually I felt that way about James' singing and don't think about the fact that my singing might have the same effect on him.

Once in my car, I quickly drive over to Rocque Records, trying to think about what James is doing with these clues. So far it's hard to tell if the places mean anything. I arrive at the building and make my way inside. As I wait in the elevator to get to our floor, I sniff the rose and start smiling. I really do love roses since growing up the always were growing outside my bedroom window. Whenever I smell them, it brings up fond memories of my childhood. But I don't think James would know this.

The doors open and I step out, hearing someone playing piano. I start walking towards this, figuring whoever is playing will now where I should go for James' clue. I round the corner and see my uncle sitting at the piano, sheet music in front of him and I know he is writing like always. "L-dog. Nice of you to show up."

"Good to see you too," I reply sarcastically as I sit down on the chair with him. "So what did James make you do?"

"He just wants me to give you this," he's frowning as he reaches down to pick up a gift bag and another rose. As he hands them to me, he says, "You know, I still don't really like him. But I can't lie, you've changed him for the better."

I think about this and wonder if it's true, but know that my uncle wouldn't lie to me. He continues playing the piano and I know he's done talking to me so I stand up and leave the room. Once in the hallway, I look in the bag and start smiling when I see the silver gem encrusted microphone. I take it and the note out of the back and when I notice the red gems that say I 3 James on the side, I start giggling, knowing that I do love him and I can't wait to use this while touring with the guys. Placing the microphone bag in the bag, I read over the note to see where James was going to send me next.

 _The next place can be seen with a glance. We both feel the chemistry when we dance._

The note must be referring to the dance studio because it's the closest place to where I am right now that James and I have danced together. Sure, we've danced at clubs and jokingly in my apartment. But the dance studio is also the first place we danced together and we felt that crazy attraction between us and almost kissed.

I head down the hall and can hear the music for Time Of Our Life before I walk in. Inside is Mr. X working on a dance routine for the guys. I lean against the doorway and wait for him to finish. When he sees me, he stops the music and grabs another gift bag and rose from on top of the speakers. Dancing over, he hands the two things to me. "Here is your gift from the boy."

"Thank you," I say and smile at him. "How are the dances going?"

"It is going x-cellent," he says and crosses his arms. "Soon I will be starting your routines so we can rehearse when your cast is off. But for now, I must get back to x-rehearsing them."

I turn back towards the hallway as Mr. X dances away from me, opening up the new bag. When I take out the picture frame with 'Music Sounds Better With U' engraved on it and holding a picture of me and James dancing from the concert, I feel my eyes starting to water at the memories. That concert had been so fantastic, from performing for the first time, the guys bringing me on stage for Worldwide, and then dancing with James. I wipe away the one tear that has fallen, for once in happiness, as I look over at the next clue.

 _Here's the place where I met your best friend. Without her, we wouldn't have been together in the end._

As I start heading towards the elevator, I mumble to myself in confusion. "The place where I met your best friend…" I get in the elevator and as it moves down, I continue trying to figure out his clue. "Is he talking about Rachel?" That would make the most sense because my other best friend is Carlos but James already took me to the place where I met the guys. The doors open and I walk out, knowing I must have to head back to the Palmwoods.

As I get in my car, I start thinking about when Rachel first met the guys and the memory of her thinking the guys were there to carry her bags has me laughing. I set my gifts on the seat next to me and start making the short drive back to the Palmwoods, part of me hoping that Rachel will be waiting for me in the lobby.

When I walk back in, I'm disappointed that Rachel isn't there. I notice Bitters frowning at the front desk with a note propped up in front of him, along with a brightly colored drink and a rose. I walk over to him, smiling at him and trying to be friendly towards him. "Is this for me?"

"Yes. Now take it so I can leave," he says annoyed before turning to go into his office.

I shake my head at him being miserable, trying not to let his bad mood affect me as I pick up the drink and take a sip. Underneath the drink was another note and I read it as I continue sipping the drink. _Enjoy this refreshing drink like the one we had at the club the night I met Rachel. Don't worry, there's no alcohol in it :)._

I grab the rose and read the note with my next clue as I sip my drink. I start walking towards the elevator, wanting to put the stuff James has already gotten me back in my apartment before continuing the scavenger hunt that James has me on.

 _The next location is where I received the best birthday surprise, waking up to your beautiful eyes._

This makes me start smiling as I step on the elevator and presses the button for the second floor. Every note so far has made me feel loved by him and I've finally figured out that each clue has something to do with a place where something special happened between us. Once the doors open, I make my way to 2J, not knowing who I'll find in there and hoping whoever is there won't be mad at me for breaking up with James and causing him to be upset over the past few days. While I hadn't talked to anyone about how he was doing, I could tell the few times I saw him that he looked like a wreck.

I knock on the door and wait a few seconds before Katie opens the door. She steps to the side and lets me in. "Hey Lauren. I haven't seen you in a while."

I walk in and shrug at her. "Well I'm sure you know why."

"I do and James is a complete idiot. You could do way better than him. Why don't you date one of Rachel's model friends?"

"Katie!" we hear Mrs. Knight yell before she comes up to Katie and pushes her towards her room. "Stop trying to get Lauren to leave James and let love decide what happens."

"Fine," Katie crosses her arms and she leaves.

Mama Knight turns around and smiles at me. "Sorry about that, sweetie. Go take care of what you need to do and get your man back."

I smile at this before she heads out of the apartment. Then I continue heading towards James' room, wanting to continue on with this scavenger hunt and finally see James, but I have no idea how many things James has planned for me. Opening his door, I spot a rose, a note, and a box on his bed. I quickly walk over, curious what James has for me now. Setting the other stuff down on the bed, I open the box and squeal in excitement when I see the dress inside. It is the same one as I was wearing when we were in the car accident and I was upset when I found out it was ruined because I really liked it. I guess James paid attention and knew how much I liked it. I put the dress back in the box and pick up the new note.

 _I can never forget that small space, confessing to each other feelings we kept hidden behind a poker face._

My heart start beating faster as I remember when James and I were stuck in the closet together and we finally kissed. It was one of the greatest moments of my life, finally knowing that the guy I had all these crazy feelings towards was feeling the same thing. I pick up all of my stuff, happy that James was sending me up to my apartment now because that's where I had been planning on going.

As I leave 2J, I don't catch any sign of Katie or the guys being there and I start to wonder how many people James got involved with this plan of his. I make my way up stairs to my floor, thinking about this scavenger hunt. Surely James doesn't have too much planned for me today. At least, I hope. At this point, I don't feel like running around all day and just want to see James so I can forgive him and never let him go again.

When I open my apartment door, it takes a lot of effort to not run over to the front closet right away to see what James has for me there. Instead, I set everything down on my kitchen counter. Then I run over and throw open the door to see sitting on the floor where James and I had been on that night another rose, a note, and a small black box. I pick up the box curiously, wondering what could be inside and when I open it, my heart starts beating faster at the perfect ring made out of pink gems in the shape of a heart. I take it out of the box, about to slip it on before I notice it has an engraving on the inside and I hold it up closer to my eyes to read it. 'You have my heart'.

I feel a tear slip down my cheek as I put the ring on my right hand, realizing that I was so stupid for letting James go. I don't think I'll ever find a guy like him again and I really don't want anyone else after him. I wipe away the tear before picking up the rose and the next note, hoping it will be telling me where to find James but I'm a little disappointed when it doesn't.

 _This place holds many memories for singers, including you and I. And when you smile, I see sparks fly._

The reference to the song I wrote about James has me smiling as I set the ring box on the counter with my other gifts and start to leave, but turn back around to grab the roses. Something in my gut tells me to take them with me since there has been one at each location. Then I leave the apartment, heading back down towards the lobby, knowing I have a bit of a drive ahead of me to get to the Staples Center where we had our first concert together.

I start driving towards the arena, putting the radio on and singing along to the songs, feeling happy enough to actually sing to some of these songs since everything turned for the worst. After about 30 minutes of driving, I arrive and a security guard stops me at the front door, asking who I am. And when I tell him who, he lets me walk past him. It's bizarre walking through the Staples Center with it being completely empty and I don't really like it, preferring when it was full of fans. When I walk into the seat area, I see only a few lights on the stage that must be set up for someone performing there in the next few days. Someone is sitting up there on a stool and playing their guitar. As I start walking closer and recognize the voice, I start smiling at hearing Kendall singing Worldwide. "Oh, wherever the wind blows me, yes you're the one and only girl on my mind."

Memories of the concert and when they brought me out on stage for Worldwide have me smiling as I approach him. He hasn't noticed me yet as I get to the floor section. "No, there ain't no one better. So always remember, girl you're mine."

As I start walking through the rows closest to the stage, I start to sing along with him, not being able to help it because Worldwide is such a good song. "Paris, London, Tokyo, just one thing that I gotta do. Tuck you in every night on the phone."

Kendall stops playing his guitar and squints down to try and see me. When he does, he gets a goofy grin on his face. "Oh hey, Lauren. I hadn't noticed you got here but I was kinda in my own zone there while performing." He chuckles at this and rubs the back of his neck before hopping off the stool. He walks over to the edge of the stage and holds out a hand for me to pull me up on stage with him.

"Well it is hard to really see anything past the first few rows," I reply as he sits back down on his stool. I notice the rose and note on the ground next to him but no gift in sit. "So I'm assuming James gave you something for me?"

"That's an accurate assumption," he says as he reaches down to the ground and picks up the rose and note. He hands them to me along with the guitar pick that he was using.

"What's this?" I ask him confused as I look down at the guitar pick. One side has my name on it and the other says Sparks Fly. It's a nice gesture to get me this pick since I do enjoy playing guitar and I've just been using generic store bought picks. I say mostly to myself, "This is so sweet of him."

"Eh, I guess," Kendall says quietly and I look up and raise an eyebrow at him when I see him frowning.

"You're still not happy with him, are you?" I ask, trying to guess at his feelings. From what I've seen in the past, he's still a little jealous of James even though Kendall and I had never really dated.

"No, I'm not," he shrugs before sighing. "But I've known James for years and he's an idiot. I know he does stupid things and this is just one more to add to the list. But for once, he's really trying to fix his mistake."

"Yeah he is," I say and start smiling as I think about everything James has given me so far on this scavenger hunt. "Well, I should probably get going to the next clue. I know you're not happy with James, but thank you for helping out with whatever he has planned with all of this."

Kendall smiles sadly at this. "Of course. Bye Lauren," he starts playing his guitar again and I take this as my queue to leave him to play his music in peace. I hop off the stage and start reading the next note as I make my way out of the arena.

 _That special place where I saw you in a motion picture. I think you truly 'glimmered' at being an ass kicker._

I chuckle at his pun of my character's name from The Hunger Games as I exit the arena, heading back to my car so I can head to the theater where we had the movie premiere. As I get in my car to make the short drive, I start smiling at the memories of going to the premiere with James. He had even made a good impression on my mom which is an accomplishment. It's hard to believe that the premiere was only six days ago because so much has happened between then and now that it feels like a month has passed by.

As I pull up in front of the theater, I see a familiar face waiting out front and she starts walking towards my car as I come to a stop. "What are you doing here, Camille?"

She walks up to my window and leans against the door frame. "Well, they won't let us inside the theater so James has me waiting outside for you. And I can't really complain since this weather is great."

"Yes it is," I pause as she waves a rose in front of her and I snatch it out of her hand. "So what did James do to talk all of you into helping with what I'm sure is a crazy plan of his?"

Camille shakes her head at this and laughs. "Nothing. Don't you realize that all of us want to see you guys back together?"

"Really?" I ask and she nods her head. I start smiling at the fact that my friends care so much about us and want to see us happy and together. "Well thank you for doing this. I owe you dinner or something."

Camille hands me a note and small box before starting to walk away. She starts laughing as she waves a hand at me over her shoulder. "Don't worry about it, just give me dinner at your wedding to James."

I shake my head at this but I'm smiling at the thought of having a wedding with James. This whole ordeal with breaking up with James has made me realize that I never want to lose him again. And assuming he feels the same way based on how much effort he's put into winning me back, a wedding very well might be in our future. But for now, I have get back with him. I open the box Camille gave me and inside is a silver bracelet with charms hanging from it. Looking at it closer reveals that all of the charms are related to The Hunger Games. James is definitely the sweetest guy I have ever dated and I don't know how he managed to get all of this stuff in such a short time. Slipping on the bracelet, I pick up the next note.

 _The place where we had our last date. The day had been perfect but I messed up what is fate._

I set the things over on the seat next to me before driving away. "Time to go to the beach," I say to myself as I turn the radio on and put my windows all the way down, wanting to enjoy the breeze as I drive.

On the radio is Ryan Seacrest talking like always. "So we have a brand new song for you guys to hear and I haven't even heard it yet." This peaks my interest and I turn the volume up, wondering who the song is from. "It was just given to us this morning and word is it was just recorded a couple days ago. So this is Red by Lauren Rocque!"

I almost swerve my car into the other lane in shock as my song starts playing. I haven't heard the completed version of it yet and part of me is a little angry at my uncle for releasing this song without even telling me. But I still turn the music up louder and sing along to the song. As I wait at a red light, I notice a couple people in cars near me are also listening to the song and one woman is even nodding her head along to it with a smile on her face.

I start smiling at this as the light turns green and I turn towards the beach. It's the first time anyone is hearing the finished song and it's already getting good responses. And I can't help but feel a little proud since I wrote it with my uncle. Even though I don't have to worry about losing James anymore, the feelings about loving him are still accurate and this song is quickly becoming one of my favorites for my album.

As I pull into the beach parking lot, the song finishes and I wait to hear what Ryan has to say about it as I park. "So that was your first listen to the newest song from Lauren Rocque, Red, and wow, that song is great. Definitely going to be a hit and something everyone can relate to. Each new song we've heard from Lauren has been catchy and I can't wait to hear her finished album." When he moves on to the next song, I turn off my car and start heading on to the beach, knowing I'll need to have a talk with my uncle at some point about releasing it without telling me.

As I try to figure out who James wants me to see, my eyes fall on the backs of two familiar people and I start walking towards them. I slip my shoes off and enjoy the sand between my toes as I make my way over. "Why am I not surprised that I find you two on the beach?" I ask when I'm close enough for them to hear me.

Carlos and Rachel turn around to look at me and Rachel waves at me while smiling. "Hey girl! And you know I never turn down the beach. When I found out James wanted to Carlos to go to the beach for this, I had to start protesting."

"And I wasn't going to let her take the beach away from me," Carlos adds as I sit down on the blanket with them. "So we agreed to both go."

"How long have you been here?" I ask them curiously since it's early evening.

"We've been here all day waiting for you!" Rachel says dramatically as she lays down.

I shove her and she starts laughing. "Please, you've been at the beach all day on a gorgeous day."

Carlos leans over towards us. "And with an amazingly hot guy as company."

Rachel and I both shove him over at this and we're all cracking up with laughter. As I look at the two of them, part of me wants to stay here with my best friends. But a bigger part of me is anxious to see James, especially since he's had me running around all day. "So what did James give you two?"

Rachel hands me a rose while Carlos passes me a note. "No gift," Carlos says and he laughs when he sees my confusion. "Just read the note and you'll understand why he doesn't have something for you here." I look down at the note and my heart starts racing at the words.

 _Your last destination is our spot in the park where we've had so many dates. Staring at the stars, wishing the sun would wait._

I look up and see the two of them smiling at me. "Thanks guys. But now, I have to go get back my guy."

Rachel smiles knowingly at me. "Have fun."

As I start walking back towards my car I can hear the two of them start laughing. They probably know what James is planning for me at this last clue. I shake my head at them but I'm smiling at the fact that they get along so well. It's nice that my best friend from childhood and my best friend at the Palmwoods are also good friends.

The drive back to the Palmwoods is short today, only taking 20 minutes since traffic is light. When I arrive, the sun is starting to set and I wonder how James managed to keep me busy running around places today for so long. I grab all of the roses from my car before starting to make my way to the park, walking quickly out of excitement to see what James has planned. Surely James will be at this last location and I can't wait to see him.

I head right to the area that we always have our dates, noticing in the back of my head that the park is strangely empty. But when I reach our secluded area and I see James in the shade of a tree, I pause when I see him holding a guitar again and surrounded by candles. He immediately starts smiling at me and begins to play music and it's nothing I've heard before. When he starts singing, my heart starts beating fast because his voice is so amazing. "All this talk about being in love, I could never get into party. Never really understood what it was, like what's the big deal anyway?"

I start walking towards him again as he continues singing, clutching the roses to my chest and wondering how I could have ever let this guy go. "Oh but I decided I should give it a try the very moment that you gave me the invite. I've never seen anything like this before, won't you open the door?"

James winks at me when I stop in front of him, a huge grin on my face as he sings to me. "See I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, don't get any better. Oh yeah, yeah, wish that this was forever. 'Cause your heart calling feels like confetti falling. And it's a celebration, feels like a celebration. 'Cause your heart calling feels like confetti falling down, down, down."

As he pauses singing and plays the guitar, I take in his appearance and notice that he looks so much better than he did the last couple of times I saw him. But mostly I notice the dazzling smile he's giving me and my stomach starts doing flips because I love him so much. "And everybody's gonna make an appearance. Even the butterflies came, what a feeling. Then bliss came with Mr. First Kiss it was better than they ever explained."

I cover up my mouth, trying to keep from screaming in excitement over this song that James is singing to me. He notices this and tries to keep from laughing at my reaction. "I think I even saw Cupid flying round. I caught a glimpse before the lights went down. And when I turned to see the stars in your eyes I realized and I was like oh yeah, yeah don't get any better. Oh yeah, yeah wish that this was forever. 'Cause your heart calling feels like confetti falling. And it's a celebration, feels like a celebration. 'Cause your heart calling feels like confetti falling down, down, down."

"See I know it's getting late, only wish the sun would wait and let this party last a little longer," James sings and at this point I don't even know what to say to him anymore because how can anything I say express how I'm feeling after this song? And this feeling just keeps getting worse as the song continues. "See I know love it comes and goes but this right here I don't think that I ever want to let it go."

"I wish I would have known," James pauses playing the guitar so that he can grab my hand. "All this talk about being in love, I could never get into the party. But now I understand only because you showed me the way." I start crying at this line, feeling so overwhelmed by what he's saying about our relationship. He wipes away a tear before playing the guitar again and finishing the song. "And I was like oh, yeah, yeah don't get any better. Oh, yeah, yeah wish that this was forever. 'Cause your heart calling feels like confetti falling. And it's a celebration, feels like a celebration. 'Cause your heart calling feels like confetti falling down, down, down."

When he finishes the song, I wipe away tears as I try to figure out what to even say to him after that. He doesn't let me say anything as he sets down the guitar and grabs a rose from the ground and holds it out to me. "Lauren, here is your last rose…"

I gently take it from him, immediately confused by it. "But why is it plastic?"

I look up from the rose to see him standing right in front of me, close enough to reach out and touch. "The roses represent how I'll love you until the last one dies."

"Yeah, but this one is plastic…" I trail off as I realize what he's saying and new tears start to fall because I don't think I deserve someone like him.

"That's exactly the point," he says smiling as he places a hand on my cheek. His thumb rubs away a tear as he looks me in the eyes. "I'll always love you, Lauren. No matter what happens. And I will do everything to make sure I never hurt you again. I love you so much so please forgive me."

Instead of figuring out what to even say because words won't come into my mind right now, I throw an arm around his neck to pull him down to my height. I kiss him and he starts kissing back immediately, both of us knowing that this shows the feelings that we can't quite put into words. Well, at least what I can't put into words; he had down that just fine with that song. I hadn't realized how much I missed just kissing him whenever I wanted to. When I pull away from him, we're both smiling and I lean up and kiss him again briefly before speaking to him. "Of course I forgive you."

James starts grinning at me before picking me up and swinging me around in a circle. I start laughing at his reaction and he joins in, both of us happy to be together again. He sets me down and kisses me lightly. "So did I do something special enough for you?"

"Definitely," I say and kiss him quickly. "How did you manage to get everything for the scavenger hunt? And I really hope you didn't bribe our friends to help you out."

James chuckles at this as he pulls me close to him. I sigh in contentment as I rest my head on his chest, fitting perfectly against him. "There was no bribery involved. I asked and they all agreed to help. I think they were all tired of seeing us both so miserable. As for the gifts, well most of them I had bought already and was just going to wait for an appropriate time to give them to you."

"Well I loved it," I whisper as we stay in each other's embraces for a minute in silence, both of us just enjoying being close again. "And that song was amazing. Did you write it?"

"Yes, with help from the guys," James whispers and kisses the top of my head. "But it was mostly my idea, they helped with some of the wording and rhyming stuff that I'm never good at."

"Doesn't matter, it was still perfect," I pause to look up at him. "You need to make sure you play it for my uncle so that it can be on your next album."

"I will, love," he responds before kissing me slowly, not feeling rushed at all. We stay there in each other's arms before he whispers to me. "I promise you, you will not regret this. I'll never hurt you again."

I smile up at him before kissing him. "I know you won't."


	21. Chapter 21

**So we have another brand new chapter compared to my original version of this story so here it is. If you like the story, please leave a review and let me know. It would me a lot to hear some feedback!**

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 **Chapter 21:**

As I sit getting my hair and makeup ready for filming with James next to me, I can't help but think about how great things have been with us. We've had no problems since we got back together two and a half weeks ago, and if anything, we get along better than we did before. I guess losing something really does make you realize how much you need it. When the guys and Rachel all found out that things in the park went well, they were all ecstatic that we were together again and things wouldn't be awkward in our friend group anymore. Then the next day we went to Rocque Records together to tell my uncle and let's just say his reaction was not very good. He at least didn't have a stroke so I say that's an accomplishment. But he was furious that we were back together at first and I thought for sure that he would end up hitting James. So we came prepared with the other guys present in their hockey gear and ready to protect James. After Kelly held him back for a couple minutes and he calmed down, he strangely accepted it.

Once my uncle was okay with us dating again, he got excited that I would be able to record Crazy In Love for the album. Then when I had James sing Confetti Falling for Gustavo, he immediately started working on the music for it because he was so impressed by the song the guys had written. Our lives were then busy with catching up on missed rehearsal time and getting prepared for the tour. And now, we get to film my first music video. My uncle let me pick the song but said he knew I would pick the same song as him. Sure enough, here we are today filming for Sparks Fly. I had to convince my uncle to let James be in it with me and not an actor they hired. He was the inspiration for the song so it only makes sense for him to be in the video.

I look over at James and take in his appearance. They've put him in a white, billowing white button up and it looks almost like a pirate but he looks hot in it. And I'll have to thank the wardrobe department for the tight black pants he has on. James is smirking with me and I know he caught me staring at him. "Are you excited about filming the video?"

"Of course," I respond as the makeup artist finishes. I look in the mirror and I'm happy with the look they've given me. They put me in a long, flowing dress that has almost a mystical feel to it and I know it's going to relate to the set we have being a large, old castle. I don't know how my uncle found this place a few hours from LA but it's perfect. "Well if we're done, let's get going."

James stands up and holds out a hand for me. I take it and he pulls me up, starting to lead me out of the dressing room and towards where we will be filming. When we get to the area that's surrounded by crew and has so many lights and cameras ready to go, I start feeling excited. This is so similar to acting and while I like doing the singing, acting is my real passion. My uncle walks up to us and I can see him briefly glare at us holding hands before looking at me. "Alright dogs, are you ready to start filming?"

"Yes," I say smiling and look up at James who nods his head in agreement. "What part are we going to be filming first?"

My uncle looks at the clipboard he's holding to figure out the schedule. "First is some individual stuff. James is going to film some scenes where we see you falling for him. Then we'll get you two together for filming parts for the choruses. Next we'll get you on that elaborate staircase in the front foyer for the bridge. And last we have an outdoor set for having some rain fall on you and can have him meet you in the pouring rain."

"No way!" I scream at my uncle and get a few weird looks from the crew as I hug him. "That's so awesome!"

"Sure, now get off me," he says and I listen to him. He gives us a stern look before continuing. "Now this is going to be a very busy day. We need to get the entire video filmed today which is why we're all here and ready to go at 6 am. So for the individual stuff, you both will go off with different film crews to maximize our time. And I want no goofing off today."

"We promise we'll behave," James says and puts an arm around my waist. But by the way he squeezes me closer I can tell that he doesn't really mean that.

"Good, then let's get started. A-team!" My uncle says and one group of crew comes over. "You will be filming with Lauren. B-team!" A second crew walks over to us. "You'll be filming James. Now get to work!"

I get dragged away from James by my team and I look over my shoulder to see the same thing happening to him. He smiles and gives me a thumbs up, telling me that filming will be great. I'm led over to an elaborate bedroom and I wonder what they have planned. The team leader starts speaking to me. "Okay, I'm Janette, I'm going to be directing the stuff for this camera crew. We want to get the first verse filmed in here. Most of it will be singing to the camera but there will be some stuff of you acting. Let's start with you sitting on the bed, singing the whole verse."

I move over to the bed and wait five minutes while crew adjusts my hair and dress and makes sure I look perfect. Once they're done, Janette starts playing the song and I try getting into this character I imagine in my head based on the set and my outfit of a princess meeting this dangerous boy who she can't marry because he's not in her class. When I start singing, I fall into the roll and feel at ease behind the camera. They have me do this a few times before moving me in front of a gorgeous vanity mirror to sing the line 'And you stood there in front of me just close enough to touch'. I act out this part and hold my hand out towards the mirror, pretending that James was there. This part only takes a couple takes and they have me sing the following line there before we move on.

Next they have me run down the hallway with my dress flowing behind me and I try to be dramatic as I do this. Once Janette is satisfied with this, she leads me to a new room where they've built a house of cards, although I'm disappointed when I find out it is glued together. But they want to film me touching it and are going to edit it in as falling down. Once that is filmed, we go to meet up with James and his team to film stuff for the choruses and second verse.

When I see James he is still filming the last thing for his part and he looks so handsome leaning against the wall. They just have him turning his head and looking into the camera with a smoldering look but wow does it makes me want to make out with him so badly.

When his team is satisfied with the shot, James walks up to me and kisses me on the cheek. "Are you having fun?" I ask him as I put an arm around his waist as we start walking with a crew to a new location.

"Of course, but I'm more excited to film these scenes with you," he responds as we walk into a beautiful indoor garden. "Wow."

"This is so perfect," I say as the crew moves us into place.

Janette walks over to us. "Okay you two. Time for some of the fun stuff. We're going to have you pretend you're meeting up for a secret rendezvous here and be worried that you'll get caught but still happy to see each other. And James, you need to be smiling a lot. Think you can handle that?"

I nod and she gives me a thumbs up before we move into places. I have fun filming one scene where I run across to James and he spins me around. I then get to lead him around the garden while singing to him and he keeps smiling at me and it starts getting hard for me to stay in my character. My favorite parts are when they let me kiss James although it's kept short because they want it to seem like we're in a forbidden love story.

Janette eventually tells us that we have enough filmed for inside the greenhouse and we're taken back to wardrobe to have touch ups before continuing filming. I barely get to talk to James in-between takes but it will be worth it to have an amazing video at the end of this. And soon enough, we're taken away to the next location. This time we get to be outside for the next verse and I can't help but get a little excited about being out in the sun. We've been having such a warm September and I haven't gotten to take advantage of it with rehearsals lately.

Janette has us acting out walking through the gardens and beautiful water fountains. We have to repeatedly film the part where James runs his hand up my arm when I sing the line 'You touch me once and it's really something, you find I'm even better than you imagined I would be' because one of us will get distracted by touching each other and mess up. But I also get to kiss James a lot for this verse so I'm pretty happy with messing up. At one point my uncle comes over to watch what we're doing and question why we aren't done with this part yet so we have to start being a bit more serious about it.

We finally get a lunch break and I'm excited to spend some time with James where we can actually talk. But my hopes for some alone time with him are quickly ruined because we have to have a fast lunch and the whole time is spent with Janette going over what we are going to be filming next. "For the second chorus, I want to film you two doing cute things around the castle. Things like running after each other down a hallway, playing chess but ending up throwing the board aside to kiss each other, and also have a cute dinner together. Basically doing all these things in secret that she won't have for long because can't be together."

"I like it," James says and I raise an eyebrow at him. "It's a cool idea and you even have a lyric that says 'Give me something that will haunt you when I'm not around' so why not show that in the video?"

"Have I told you recently that I love you?" I say in response because I love the fact that he is so into filming this video with me and that he probably knows all of the lyrics to my song.

"No, but you've been singing to me all day a song that basically says it so close enough," he chuckles before leaning over and kissing me.

"Dogs, we have a schedule!" My uncle yells at us and I roll my eyes as James and I pull apart. "You can kiss when we're actually filming."

"He's right," Janette adds and I want to be mad at her for siding with my uncle but she's been so nice to us all day and is only trying to do her job. "And if you two are done eating, we'll continue."

I look over at James and can tell he's thinking the same thing as me. I sigh as I turn back to Janette. "Alright, let's get going."

"Great," she says and stands up, waving at us to follow her out of the room. She leads us towards an elaborate dining room that has been set up with food and silver platters. Her film crew is already waiting for us. "Okay you two sit down in the two chairs there," she points out the chairs, "and basically you need to pretend to eat, feed each other, be laughing with each other. Basically look like you're in love."

"That will be easy," James says as he pulls out the chair for me and I sit down.

"I don't know, that might be pretty tough," I say sarcastically as he sits down next to me. We both start laughing at this before James leans over to kiss me on the cheek. When he moves away, I take his hand and kiss the back of it, slightly aware that we're being filmed right now but just enjoying doing cute things with him. He then feeds me a strawberry and keeps smiling at me. Soon enough, we've done enough cute things that Janette is satisfied and moves us on.

We're taken to a long hallway and instructed to run down it, chasing each other while smiling and laughing at each other. This seems easy enough to do and several times I take off running while holding up the skirt of my dress as James follows me. I look over my shoulder a couple times and laugh at how much fun I'm having while filming this video. James seems to be having just as much fun because a couple times he will catch up to me and pick me up and spin me around.

Soon we're directing to a library where they have a table set up with a chessboard. We get to sit down and look like we're deep in thought over the game before I get to throw the board to the side. Sending the pieces flying is one of my favorite things I've gotten to do so far and I'm pretty happy when we have to film this part several times because I get to keep kissing James. And one look at James shows that he's having as much fun with this as I am.

Janette decides we have enough shots for the second chorus. As we get led out to the main foyer, I grab James' hand and smile up at him. "We get to film my favorite part of the song next."

"I overheard earlier what they have planned for this part and it's not going to disappoint you," James says to me as we enter the main foyer and we both pause in awe at how elegant and fancy it looks.

"I still can't believe my uncle got this location for us," I say as I look around at the beautiful room. The main staircase is perfect and I know they're going to have us filming on it for this part of the song.

Janette approaches us. "Alright the big part of the song now. We're going to have you start at the bottom of the stairs with Lauren singing. I want you basically to follow what the song is saying. I trust at this point you can do well."

We nod at her and are moved into place by the crew. I put my arm around James' neck as we get ready to film, enjoying being close to him and getting to look into his eyes. We get the queue that they've started filming and the music starts playing. As I sing to James the line 'I run my fingers through your hair and watch the lights go wild' I do just that and play with his hair, getting a smile from him. He leans his forehead against mine for the next line before moving away to start walking up the staircase for the line 'And lead me up the staircase won't you whisper soft and slow'. We have to keep filming us walking up the stairs because when James leans in to whisper to me, he'll say stupid things like 'I just farted down there' or 'Gustavo has spinach in his teeth' and he keeps making me start laughing. It's only the threat from my uncle that gets him to stop doing this and whisper normal things like 'I love you'.

Janette decides we have this part done and calls us over. "So Lauren, are you satisfied with all of the footage we've done so far? Once we film this next part, we're not going to be able to go back because we have rain machines."

I think about it for a minute but I know that we have everything so far. "I think we're good."

"Then let's go get you in the pouring rain."

We walk outside to the front of the castle which has been transformed by the crew. They have machines set up to make it rain over us and sheets to block the setting sun so that it looks overcast. I'm instructed to wait on the front steps and to have James wait at the bottom of them. We only had one chance to get me walking out to him in the rain right so Janette is being very careful to make sure we have everything ready. She has me sing through the final chorus once from the dry part in the doorway while James is standing in the rain and smiling at me. Then I finally get to go kiss him in the pouring rain, running down the stairs to him and kissing him as soon as I reach him. I sing to him some of the lines but mostly it is us kissing or looking at each other while getting rained on. It's totally romantic and this is what I had pictured in my fantasies when I was writing the song. And now I get to do this multiple times and have it be in a music video that I can watch all the time.

"Okay, that's a wrap!" Janette yells after one final take and everyone starts cheering in excitement over this. James and I are given towels and we wrap them around ourselves as we go over to Janette and my uncle. "You two did great today. This video is going to look really great once we have everything put together."

"I can't wait to see it. Thank you," I say and shake her hand and James does the same. She heads over to her crew packing up and I turn to my uncle. "So what do you think? You stayed out of filming for the most part."

"Well I've learned over the years that it's usually a good idea for me to just let the directors do their thing," he says and shrugs at me. "And I just don't really like seeing my niece kissing one of the dogs that much."

James chuckles and I raise an eyebrow at this. "You also wanted me to film this song. What did you expect?"

"I don't know!" Gustavo yells at me before calming down. "It's not that big of a deal as long as the video turns out well. And I've worked with Janette a few times before so I know it will."

"Great, I can't wait to see it," James says and I look over to see him smiling as I take his hand in mine.

"Me too," I look over at my uncle. "When are we going to see it?"

"In a few weeks when we have your album release party," he responds and crosses his arms at me. "Are you sure you're ready to handle the craziness that's going to be the next couple of weeks with an album and music video coming out?"

"I know I can handle it," I say and squeeze James' hand before looking up at him. He smiles at me and I know that as long as I have him by my side, I'll be able to handle all of the crazy things that are about to happen.


	22. Chapter 22

**What's this? Another brand new chapter right after the last one? Why yes, that is what's happening lol. This chapter makes the story flow better chronologically so enjoy and please review!**

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 **Chapter 22:**

As I walk into Rocque Records with James, I'm overwhelmed by everything going on and stop walking, trying to take everything in. There are tons of people everywhere, holding drinks and plates full of food as they mingle. The people aren't the thing that makes me pause. It's the pounding music and the large posters everywhere of my album cover that make me freeze in place. It's still hard to believe that my first cd is now available to everyone and my uncle has us at this party to celebrate. I had been glued to my phone all day, watching the reactions of everyone as they bought the album and were able to listen to all of the songs. So far, the good majority of the reactions have been great, everyone loving the new music in addition to the songs I performed at the concert.

As my brain finally recognizes New Romantics and realizes that my album is being played, I start moving again and look over at James to see him trying not to laugh at me. "What are you trying not to giggle about over there?"

James leans over and kisses me on the cheek before grinning at me. "You're just adorable when you get surprised about good things happening to you." He places a hand on my back and starts leading me towards my uncle who is talking to Griffin. "Stop worrying about things and accept that everyone is here to celebrate your album being released. And we get to see the music video tonight too."

We approach the two and Griffin starts smiling when he sees me and waves his arms up in the air. "There's our star! I was just saying to Gustavo that I'm impressed by the talent that runs in your family."

My uncle starts grumbling over this and James and I have to fight not to laugh at his reaction. "Well it's all from me and not her father."

"Nonsense, Gustavo. I saw the video and she didn't get acting talent from you," Griffin responds and at this point, I can't help but laugh at how angry my uncle is getting yet he can't do anything about it since Griffin is the boss of everyone.

"Wait, you saw the video already?" James asks excitedly and I look up at him with an eyebrow raised. "How perfect was Lauren in it? And did I look amazing?"

I lightly smack him on the ribs when he starts doing the face and Griffin has an amused smile at how we behave with each other. "You both did well and I'm starting to see there was very little acting involved."

"When exactly are we going to see the video?" I ask Griffin as I see the rest of the guys walk in with Rachel and wave them over.

"As soon as we get done listening to your entire album. And since we're on song six out of twelve right now, we still have a while," Griffin says and I start frowning a little at this. I've been wanting to see the completed video ever since we got done filming it. Griffin gets excited as the rest of the guys approach us. "And there's the rest of my money makers! Except for you," he says and points at Rachel. "Who are you?"

"Rachel Anderson, supermodel," she says with a smirk and shakes his hand, somehow not getting intimidated by meeting the fourth biggest CEO in the world.

"Hmm, I might need to buy a modeling company. Obdul!" he shouts and his assistant runs up to him. "See what modeling companies we can buy."

The assistant runs away as Rachel gives me a concerned look, wondering what she might be getting into with Griffin. I chuckle at this as I look back at my uncle who is still trying not to get angry at Griffin and he uses me as a distraction. "L-dog, I need to introduce you to all of the rich people here. Let's go." He grabs on my arm and starts dragging me away from my friends. I look over my shoulder at James and he just shrugs his shoulders at me.

My uncle takes me to a bunch of different people and I can barely keep track of all of their names as I'm forced to talk to everyone. Most of the people are business partners for Rocque Records so I suppose I have to talk to them since they're part of the reason I actually have a job. At one point I sneak away from my uncle to grab food and try to get James to help me out but my uncle takes him away before him and the guys can do anything. I try to keep smiling at the people my uncle introduces me to and eventually my face starts to hurt. When Griffin announces that it's time to watch my music video, I sigh in relief and run away from my uncle to find James.

He immediately puts an arm around my waist and kisses the top of my head. "Sorry I couldn't help you there. I've been in the same place before and it's not fun."

I shrug as I lean against him, starting to relax now that I'm in his arms as we walk towards the projector screen that's been set up to view the video. "It's alright, just a little exhausting. But at least we get to finally watch this video."

He starts smiling at this as the rest of our friends join us. "I'm pretty excited about this."

Carlos starts jumping in excitement when he sees us. "Dude I can't wait to see this video! I've been so jealous ever since you told us you got to film it in a castle!"

"Yeah, how come Gustavo never gets cool locations like that for us?" Logan adds and Kendall nods his head in agreement.

"Because you're not related to me," Gustavo says from behind them and the guys scream and run behind me. "Dogs, relax. I don't care if you're jealous of the filming location. And I suppose I can work on getting cool locations for you."

Carlos runs up and hugs my uncle and I can tell he's trying not to get angry and push Carlos away. I start smiling at this because no matter what my uncle says, I can tell that he really likes the guys. "Gustavo you're the best!" Carlos let's go and runs back over to us before my uncle can get angry.

Rachel clears her throat and I look over at her with an eyebrow raised. She's smirking at the whole exchange between Carlos and Gustavo. "I better be involved in the next music video." When my uncle starts looking at her like she's crazy, she crosses her arms at him. "Don't even say no to me. I might as well be your niece as well and you know that it would be good for the guys to have a supermodel in one of their videos."

"I suppose that you might be sort of, kind of right," Gustavo begrudgingly admits and doesn't look happy about admitting someone is right. Rachel starts smiling at him and pats him on the arm and I see my uncle start to smile the tiniest amount before looking at me. He glares at me, silently telling me not to say anything about him showing that he can be happy and I chuckle at this and shake my head. He's so ridiculous with how he wants people to view him but sometimes doesn't realize that he can let that appearance down around us.

I notice Griffin standing in the front and start to pay attention to him. He claps his hands to get everyone to stop talking. "Okay, shall we watch this music video?"

"Not quite yet," I hear a familiar voice say and I immediately turn around, not wanting this to be my imagination playing tricks on me. But when I see my mom and dad standing there, I start grinning as I run over to them and throw my arms around them. My dad starts chuckling as he hugs me back. "I missed you too, sweetheart."

I pull back slightly so that I can look at them, still wanting to make sure that they are really here. They both look happy to be together after who knows how long of them being apart. "I can't believe you're here. Why didn't you say anything?"

"We figured it would be a nice surprise for us to both be here," my mom answers and my dad nods his head in agreement.

"And I felt bad that I couldn't make it to your movie premiere," my dad adds. "So I made sure that I was free to be here for your album release."

I hug him again, feeling so happy to see them and have them with me to celebrate this event. Griffin clears his throat behind me and we all look over to see him waiting impatiently. "While this is very touching, we're delaying releasing this video to the public."

"Sorry," my mom says and chuckles. I look back at her and she smiles at me. "Go watch with your friends, dear. We'll talk about it after and you can introduce James to your father."

I nod at this as my dad raises his eyebrows and I start to wonder if it's a good idea introducing James to him. He usually is the easygoing one with my boyfriends but surely my mom told him how she was impressed by James and know he's going to tough on James. I try not to get worried about this thought as I walk back over to the guys, starting to feel a little anxious about seeing the video now that my parents are here to watch it too. James grabs my hand and squeezes it, trying to comfort me and I smile up at him as someone dims down the lights. I turn my attention to the screen and take a deep breath in anticipation, ready to see the video for the song that means so much to me.

As the guitar starts playing the opening, my heart starts racing in excitement. The video starts with watching James walk towards the front door of the castle from behind him and if I didn't know he was in the video, I wouldn't realize it was him. I'm shown next staring out a window longingly and I'm impressed by the crew who really made me look like I belong in the castle in a different time. Then I start singing and the video jumps between scenes of me singing and James doing different things around the castle, looking gorgeous every time. They did an amazing job in editing for making the house of cards fall after I lightly touch the top of it. It cuts back over to James leaning against the wall and looking at the camera with a smoldering look and he looks so handsome that I start questioning how I am lucky enough to be dating this beautiful man. They include me briefly running down the hall and I love the fact that they got this to line up with me singing 'send me running'. And then the video is back to me singing in front of the mirror and singing. I'm happy with the fact that my acting looks great on screen and I really look like I'm this girl who is caught up in a forbidden love story.

As the chorus starts, the scene shifts to us in the indoor garden. They go back and forth between me singing to James and us doing cute things. He rarely stops smiling and I know it wasn't just for filming and that it was because he was having fun with me. I squeeze his hand and look up at him briefly, smiling just because I'm so in love with him and I love how this video has turned out so far. He turns to look at me, grin on his face before turning back to the screen as it shifts to us outside for the second verse. I also look back at the screen to see me sitting down on the edge of one of the water fountains with James. I watch as he runs his hand up my arm and stops on my cheek before kissing me. My cheeks start blushing as I watch us having this crazy chemistry together that I don't get to see and I start wondering if this is what we look like to everyone else. But even if we do, I don't see how anyone would get annoyed about it because it's clear from just watching us together in this video just how much we love each other.

The rest of that verse finishes in the gardens outside before we get to see us doing cute things together inside the castle. I want to start giggling at how cute and romantic everything is because I know that if I was watching this video and not have been in it, I would want these things to happen to me. Watching the scene of me flipping over the chess board is so exciting and it looks so good because they slowed it down after filming so it looks more dramatic. And then James and I get to run through the hallway chasing each other before eating dinner together and being adorable. This chorus is filled with me kissing James and part of me worries that some of their fans might get very jealous and start hating me but I shake this thought off. Hopefully they can see how much we love each other and not be angry.

And then we get to my favorite part of the song and we're shown in front of the grand staircase. It starts with me running my hands through James' hair as I sing the line that pairs up with that. And then he leans his forehead against mine and looks me in the eyes for me singing 'just keep on keeping your eyes on me' and as I watch this, I start giggling in excitement over how wonderful it all looks. Then James is leading me up the staircase and whispering in my ear and I can feel James squeeze my hand as he leans over and kisses me on the cheek.

Finally the camera cuts to James standing out in the pouring rain and I can hear Rachel and Carlos cheering in excitement over this part. I laugh lightly at this as I watch myself on the porch singing about wanting him to meet me in the rain and kiss me on the sidewalk. When James starts smiling, I run down the steps towards him and throw my arms around his neck, kissing him as he spins me around. I hear several people start clapping and cheering at this part of the song, clearly waiting for this to happen the whole video. And I have to admit, it looks amazing.

And then the video is ending with me singing 'And the sparks fly' before kissing James and the screen fades to black. Everyone around me starts clapping and James immediately hugs me as I stand there, trying to process the video and the fact that I have my first music video. As soon as James lets go of me, I'm attacked by Rachel and Carlos who both hug me tightly while shouting excitedly about the video and their favorite parts. Kendall and Logan both congratulate me on the video before Gustavo and Griffin approach us. At this point it's finally set in that I got to see the completed music video and I can't stop grinning in excitement about it.

Griffin pats me and James on the shoulder before holding on to us, looking back and forth at us and smiling. "Great job you two. The video turned out great and as we speak, it is getting uploaded for the public to see. And Lauren, congrats on the success of your album so far. Critics are loving it and by the end of the weekend it should go gold."

"Seriously?" I ask him, not believing that my album would sell 500,000 copies in the first weekend alone. Griffin nods his head in confirmation and my jaw drops in shock that this album is so successful. I didn't really expect that many people to want it and I had never seen myself as becoming a popular singer. Yet here we are, new album and music video out and getting ready to go on tour around the world.

"Yes, seriously. Now you kids should enjoy the party, you've earned it," Griffin replies to me before giving us another pat on the back and heading off to talk to other people.

I turn to my uncle as James puts an arm around my waist. I try to figure out what he's thinking but I can't tell. Usually I can figure out what his emotions are even though he tries so hard to not let people in. But right now, he's keeping what he's feeling hidden from even me. I raise an eyebrow as I look at him. "So what did you think?"

Gustavo starts frowning a little bit and I become worried that he hated the video. He doesn't say anything for a minute. "I think it was a good video but I don't like seeing you kissing someone that much, especially one of the monkey dogs."

I roll my eyes at this and shake my head as I start smiling. "When are you going to admit that you like them?"

"Never!" He shouts and I chuckle at his response which only makes him angrier. "I'm never going to like them and I don't care if the video was great with them!"

"Oh Gus, would you relax?" I hear my dad say and turn to see my parents walking over to us, my dad smirking at his brother's reaction.

"No, Dave, because she thinks I'm going to actually like the idiots I work with," my uncle starts glaring at my dad who is still smirking at him. Meanwhile, Rachel screams in excitement about seeing my parents and runs over to my mom and hugs her. The guys are watching the exchange between the two Rocque brothers and not knowing what to do so they are starting to slowly back away, probably fearing Gustavo having an outburst.

"Why wouldn't you like them? Scarlet told me about James and seems to like him a lot," my dad says and James starts smiling at this and runs back over next to me.

James holds out a hand to my father, still smiling at the fact that my mom likes him. "I'm James Diamond. I'm Lauren's boyfriend and I'm also in Gustavo's band."

My dad narrows his eyes as he forms an opinion on James and I try not to laugh at him doing it because it's something he shares in common with Gustavo but the two will never admit it. James' smile falters a little but he still continues smiling until my dad finally takes his hand and firmly shakes it. "I trust what my wife said about you is true so it's nice to meet you. But I'm going to suggest you don't do anything to change my opinion of you for the worse."

This is starting to go terrible and I'm surprised James hasn't run away yet because at this point, most of my exes would have. Yet James has a determined look on his face as he meets my father's eyes. "I plan on never doing that, sir. If anything, I will make your opinion better."

My dad raises his eyebrows at this before patting James on the back and starting to laugh as he looks at my mom. "Wow you were right about this one, he really is confident around us." As my mom starts laughing, he turns back to James who is confused about the sudden change of attitude. "You're the first boyfriend of Lauren's that hasn't been intimidated by the two of us and I have to say, it's surprising but a nice change."

James noticeably relaxes at this and I know that he has the approval of both of my parents now. I start smiling at this as I put my arm around his waist. "Well he's put up with Uncle Gustavo for two years. And no offense, but you two aren't as scary as him."

My dad raises his eyebrows at this but my mom nudges him before he can start arguing with Gustavo. "Dave, try not to get into any arguments tonight. This night is about Lauren, not you and your brother's rivalry."

My dad walks up to Gustavo cheerfully and puts an arm around Gustavo's shoulders. My uncle looks miserable about this and I try not to laugh at how different they are in appearance because my dad towers over my uncle. "You know I can't help it around my little brother."

"Stop calling me your little brother!" Gustavo yells and the guys start snickering about this. I glare over at them and they stop before Gustavo can notice them. "And I have plenty of new gold records to show you so if you think your achievements are great, I'll prove mine our better."

"I'll gladly prove you wrong," my dad responds as the two of them head towards Gustavo's office that holds many of his awards.

I look over at my mom who has her arms crossed as she shakes her head at them. When she looks over at us, there's a hint of a smile on her face. "I've known those two for over twenty years and they have not changed at all."

The guys look intrigued at her knowing Gustavo when he was younger. Carlos runs over to her excitedly. "What was he like then?"

"Gustavo?" My mom asks and starts laughing. "Honestly he was the exact same way that he is now." She turns back to me as the guys process this and takes my hand. "Honey, I haven't told you yet but I'm very proud of you. Your album is great and that video was wonderful." She's smiling at me as we hear a crash come from Gustavo's office and she starts sighing as she rolls her eyes. "Time to do damage control once again. You kids go have fun while I take care of the adults who might as well be kids."

My mom kisses me on the cheek before heading towards Gustavo's office. I turn towards my friends, feeling excited that my album is now out and I get to celebrate with them tonight. As someone turns music back on and I realize they're playing party hits from Gustavo, past and current, I start smiling at them. "Shall we go dance?"

Carlos and Logan scream in excitement before running out to the makeshift dance floor. Kendall rolls his eyes before following them with Rachel who starts dancing along to the music with Carlos right away. I look up at James, laughing at our friends until I see that he doesn't look quite happy. "Hey what's up?"

"I just want to make sure that your father approved of me before we go have fun," James says seriously and I start smiling at him when I realize how concerned he is with making a good impression on my parents. "You know, there's a good chance I'll be spending a lot of time with them in the future so I want them to like me."

I put a hand on his cheek and lean up to lightly kiss him, trying to reassure him without saying anything. When I pull away, he's starting to smile again. "James I promise you, they like you. Like my dad said, no one before has made such a good impression on them. And apparently my mom has been talking about you a lot? That's a great sign."

"Good," he says and kisses me on the cheek. He pulls away when Carlos starts shouting at us to join them and the other people out dancing. James starts chuckling as he takes my hand and starts leading me to the dance floor. "Come on, let's go celebrate."


	23. Chapter 23

**This chapter has a lot going on in it but I have to say, this version is quite the improvement over the original. If you like this story, please leave a review and let me know!**

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 **Chapter 23:**

I stare out the window at the expanse of clouds and see some blue of the ocean below, resting my head on James' shoulder as we continue flying. Our world tour is finally starting after months of preparing for it and I can't wait to get started. Ever since I performed at that first concert, I've been wanting to perform more and more so this tour is going to be amazing. The sets they have prepared for us are awesome looking and Mr. X really outdid himself with the choreography for both myself and BTR. Fans are going to have the best concert ever when they come see us. And our first stop is in London! I've always wanted to travel to England and it's finally happening.

In the last month, my album has done phenomenally well and I still can't believe the success I've had with it. It's already gone gold in a lot of the countries that we're going to be touring and it just went platinum in the US. The fans have loved it too and I'm so excited that I'll finally be performing a lot of them. And then the music video was getting great reviews. Everyone seems to love the idea of having James star in the video with me and I'm so glad I convinced my uncle to have James in it and not a hired actor.

I turn my head towards James and start smiling when I see that he's still sleeping. He always looks so cute when asleep. Things have been going perfectly with him since we got back together and he always seems to do something to make sure I realize he's committed and won't do anything to cause us to break up again. He starts stirring and looks down at me sleepily. "Hey, why aren't you sleeping?"

"I don't sleep well on planes," I reply quietly as he pulls me closer to him. I snuggle up against him, feeling sleepy but not knowing if I'll be able to fall asleep again.

"Well you should try to, we have a busy day ahead of us," James starts yawning and I can tell he's starting to fall back asleep. I try to listen to him and close my eyes, knowing he is right. Sleep evades me for a while until I eventually fall asleep next to James, making the last couple of hours pass by.

* * *

"Carlos, for the last time, we're not part of a spy movie," I say and roll my eyes at him as I spot my suitcase on the luggage belt. Logan chuckles at me as I grab my bag and turn around to look at my best friend who has been acting crazy ever since we landed. He keeps thinking that because of a dream he keeps having, we're going to become secret spies and save the world.

Carlos puts a pair of dark sunglasses on as he starts looking around the airport. "You don't know that for sure."

"Yes, I do," I respond as my uncle starts walking towards us. James puts an arm around me and I can tell he's trying not to laugh at Carlos.

"Dogs, get your bags already!" Gustavo yells at them and the other three scream and run behind me, still thinking that I can protect them from my uncle.

Kelly rolls her eyes at them as she looks over our schedule, not even glancing up at the guys. "We need to get going so that we can meet up with the world tour planner in an hour and a half."

"Well we just need Kendall's bag," Mama Knight says and she walks up to us with Katie, both of them carrying their suitcase. She points to the revolving luggage belt at Kendall's bright pink bag. "There it is!"

The guys try to ignore Kendall's bag choice as he grabs it. They had tried repeatedly before we left to get him to take a different bag but he insisted on taking the pink one claiming it was special because it was given to him by a fan. Once Kendall has the bag on his shoulder, he turns to Gustavo. "Let's go start our world tour!"

We all start cheering as Gustavo and Kelly start leading us towards the exit. I grab James' hand and start swinging our hands together as I smile up at him, starting to feel excited about everything now that we've landed in London. "This is going to be such a fun tour."

James chuckles as he looks down at how excited I am right now. "It sure will be," he replies as we exit the airport. A van is waiting for us in front and we all pile in. Carlos has put his sunglasses on again and Logan smacks him to get him to remove them. Once everyone is in the van, we start driving towards our hotel.

Kelly is reading over the schedule again and starts filling us in on the plan for today. "Okay when we get to the hotel, you guys will be able to sign a few things for the fans waiting." We all nod our heads acknowledging this as she flips the page. "Then when we're in the lobby, you can wander around inside the hotel while I check in but no causing trouble," she adds the last part when the guys cheer at hearing that they have some free time.

I glance over at Katie in the seats in front of me with Kendall and Mama Knight. I become confused at her wearing a tiara. "So uh, Katie? Why are you wearing a tiara?"

She adjusts it before starting to put gloves on. "Because we're in London and I'm going to become a princess."

Mama Knight sighs in exasperation as she looks at her daughter. "Katie, for the last time, you are not going to become a princess!"

"That's what you think," she says grumpily as she crosses her arms and glares out the window. I start chuckling lightly at her reaction, understanding a little her desire to be royalty because I've also found the British royal family to be fascinating and loved pretending to be a princess when I was younger.

As the van pulls up in front of the Queens Hotel, I notice the large amount of fans waiting for the guys to arrive. I briefly question how they knew where we would be staying but then figure that fans always have a way of figuring these things out. Kendall is ready to start opening the door but my uncle stops him. "Dogs, don't mess up this tour by doing something stupid. We have a lot depending on this tour being successful."

"We won't," Kendall tries to reassure him before opening the car door a screaming a bit as he runs out. The other guys quickly follow him out and start signing things and taking pictures with fans.

Gustavo lets out a noise in protest at their behavior and I start laughing at his reaction because this is just the guys being themselves. I turn to him and pat him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them."

I can tell he doesn't really trust me to keep track of the guys as I step out of the car and head after the guys. While for most of the fans I'm not the main reason they're here, a lot are still excited to see me and take pictures together. Once I get inside the hotel, I see that the guys have already started wandering around the lobby. Carlos has his sunglasses on and keeps bumping in to things while pretending to be a spy again. James is trying and failing to get Kendall to put down his hideous pink backpack. And then Logan is looking around at the architecture of the hotel because he wouldn't stop talking about how it's over 400 years old. As I sit down in one of the chairs and pull out my phone, Kelly walks by and just gives me a look that tells me to make sure the guys didn't do anything stupid.

I look around at my idiot friends before shaking my head and turning to my phone, checking twitter. I send out a tweet saying 'Made it to London and I can't wait for the tour to start!' and once done, I put my phone away and see Kelly and Gustavo trying to get everyone over. I start walking over to them and once everyone is there, Kelly tries to hand us the room keys and they all slip out of her hands. We all bend down to start grabbing them and give them back to Kelly so that she can hand us the proper keys.

"Alright, here's the keys to the suites. We have a half hour before we meet up with the world tour planner so you guys can head up but don't break anything." The guys all have stopped paying attention to her after she said suites and they turn towards each other with ridiculous grins on their faces. Then they take off running and screaming towards the stairs in excitement, leaving my uncle about to have a heart attack and Kelly trying not to have a panic attack.

I shake my head and laugh at them as I pat the two on the shoulder before picking up my bag. Katie and Mama Knight have started walking towards the elevator and I quickly follow after them since we'll be staying together whenever we stay at a hotel on this tour for convenience and to save money. As we step on the elevator, I can tell Mama Knight is worrying about the guys while Katie is putting a tiara on again. I roll my eyes at their actions, starting to wonder why I'm friends with this crazy group of people. The doors open on our floor and we make our way to our room. I can hear the guys yelling from the room next to ours and I shake my head, not even wanting to know what they're up to as we enter our room. Setting my bag down on one of the beds, I start unpacking the things I'll need for the concert tonight.

Mama Knight starts unpacking her things while Katie just bounces on her bed. "Mom, can we go back down to the lobby?"

She throws down the shirt she's holding to look at Katie like she's crazy. "We need to get settled first! You know, we could go down to the lobby sooner if you would help me unpack."

"And you know I'm not going to do that," Katie replies as she lays down on the bed, earning a sigh from Mama Knight.

I laugh lightly at them as the door opens. I look over to see my uncle, Kelly, and some guy that I'm assuming is the tour manager. My uncle looks stressed out as he stands there. "L-dog, we need to go talk to the rest of the dogs about how this tour is going to go." He waves his hand to get going and I set down my things before walking out of the suite with them.

We make our way to the room next to mine as the tour manager speaks up and I struggle to understand him through his thick accent. "Now I'm just going to go over what is going to happen on this tour with you."

Kelly opens the door to the guys' suite and we all freeze when we see the wreck. The contents of the room are scattered all over the floor and there's a room service cart knocked over, scattering food across the floor. The back window of the suite is open and the guys are nowhere in sight. My uncle starts breathing rapidly next to me and I know he's going to have a panic attack. "What have those dogs done now?"

The tour manager turns to my uncle, frowning at the mess in their suite. "This tour hasn't even started yet and you have already lost me money. Make sure the boys are at soundcheck in an hour or I'll cancel this tour." He turns around and leaves us standing there, Gustavo and Kelly both petrified at the thought of the tour getting cancelled.

I walk into the room and start going through some of the mess in the room. I see James' lucky comb on the floor and I know he wouldn't have left it here unless they were rushing to get out of there. Clearly something happened to them and I can feel myself starting to get worried about them being out in a foreign city on their own. "What have those guys gotten themselves into now?"

My words snap Gustavo out of his trance and he starts panicking. "Kelly!"

I look over at them and see that Kelly is on her phone trying to call them. "I'm trying but no one is picking up!" I pull out my phone and try to call James but when it eventually goes to voicemail, I start panicking as well. He always picks up when he sees it's me calling.

Glancing over at my uncle, I start worrying that he's going to have a stroke so I walk over to him and put my hands on his shoulders. "Relax, they're going to make it to soundcheck. They haven't let you down before so just trust them," I say, partially trying to convince myself that things are going to be okay with them. "We're going to go to soundcheck and try to delay as long as possible to give them time to get there." He still looks unsure about this plan and I'm not positive that he still won't have a stroke. I shake him to get his attention. "Got it?"

Gustavo nods his head even though he looks a little pale. He glances over at Kelly, "Don't tell the dogs' mom, she'll have the whole city looking for them and we don't want to draw unnecessary attention to this."

"On it," she says and nods her head at him. "We'll tell her that the world tour manager told us we should spend the hour before soundcheck touring the city and the guys were so excited that they already headed out."

"Tell her I'm with them," I add to this plan. "She'll still want to run after them if she thinks it's just the four of them. But if I'm with them, she won't freak out as much." I push them out of the room and lock the door behind us. "Now you two go tell her and I'll wait for you down in the lobby."

"And you think this plan will work?" My uncle asks me and I can see that he doesn't really think it will and the tour is going to get cancelled and he'll lose his job.

"Yes," I say to him, trying to get him to relax as I push them towards the door. "I hope." He gives me a concerned look over his shoulder before I start heading towards the stairs. I really hope that I'm right about the guys and they won't let us down. As I start running down the stairs, I pull out my phone to try to call James again but he doesn't pick up again. I'm really starting to get worried now and try calling Logan, hoping someone will answer their phone as I enter the lobby. But he doesn't pick up either and I start sighing as I sit down in one of the chairs. I put my face in my hands, worried that something terrible has happened to James and not knowing what I'll do if he gets hurt.

I hear Kelly and Gustavo approaching me and can tell by their faces that the plan has worked so far. Kelly waves for me to join them and I start walking with them towards the front entrance. "Alright at this point, soundcheck starts in 40 minutes. It's going to take us about 25 minutes to get to Hyde Park," she pauses as we get in the van in front for us. "Now when we get there, you're going to complete your soundcheck right away. And you need to take your time, be a bit of a pain if possible, just anything to make sure the guys get there on time."

I nod my head at her as we start making our way to the park, trying not to be too worried about the guys and failing. The fact that we're in London is making me more worried about them because we've never been here before so they could very easily get lost. I stare out the window, trying to appreciate the fact that I'm in London but I feel knots in my stomach at the idea of the world tour getting cancelled if the guys miss soundcheck. Kelly and Gustavo are also silent on the drive and I know they're both feeling the same thing as me. Well, my uncle might be more concerned about the tour than the guys but I know he does care a little about the guys.

When we arrive at Hyde Park and pull up in front of the stage, my uncle screams a little in panic at not seeing the guys there. Kelly holds on to his arm before we get out of the van. "Don't panic, they won't let you down."

I take a deep breath as I get out of the van, really hoping that Kelly is right. As we approach the stage, the tour manager walks up to us with his arms crossed. "Where are the boys?"

"They'll be here by the time Lauren is done with her soundcheck," my uncle responds and the fact that he called me by my first name shows that he really is panicking inside. He shoves me towards the tour manager who grabs my arm and starts leading me towards the stage. I look back over my shoulder at Kelly and Gustavo who give me thumbs up, encouraging me to waste as much time as possible.

Once I'm on stage, I sigh as I get situated on the stool they have for me, not sure if I can pull this off while waiting for the guys. The sound technician tries to get me to start singing but I waste a minute trying to get my microphone stand perfectly adjusted and each time he thinks I'm ready to start, I make him wait again. Eventually he gives up on waiting for me and starts playing the song, forcing me to start singing. After singing through Don't Hold Your Breath, I make the sound technician wait again as I drink water and do a bunch of random voice exercises that I claim I need to do to warm up properly, but really they are just to waste time. Once done with those, I glance at Kelly and Gustavo who are starting to look really scared and I know the guys aren't here yet. I'm forced to sing through New Romantics and I intentionally mess up twice and make him let me start the song over. When the song is over, I try to waste more time but the tour manager comes over and makes the technician start playing Red immediately and won't pause it for me to try to restart and waste more time.

"She's done with soundcheck," the tour manager says once the song is over and I look over at my uncle in panic. "Now if the boys aren't here within five minutes, I'm cancelling the world tour."

As I start heading backstage, I pull out my phone and try to call James again. As it starts ringing, I mumble to myself, "Come on, James, pick up. Don't let us down." I keep walking away from the stage, not wanting to freak my uncle out more by showing that I'm worried too. When it reaches voicemail, I start sighing and hang up the phone. This was not how I imagined our world tour starting and at this rate, how our world tour is going to be ending. I turn around to start heading back to Gustavo and Kelly but stop when I see several men in suits standing in front of me. "I'm heading back to the front now."

I try to walk past them, but they push me back and I start wondering what is going on. If they work here, they should not be treating one of their performers like this. "I'm sorry, Miss Rocque, but you will not be heading back there."

Two of the guys grab on to my arms and I start struggling against them, fear starting to take over at the thought of getting kidnapped. "What are you doing? Let go of me!" Their grip only tightens on me as I start struggling more. I try to remember what I had been taught about escaping someone's grip and try kicking out my legs. One of my kicks lands on one of the guys in the stomach and he lets go to fall over in pain. I step on the other guy's foot and his grip on my arm loosens enough for me to get away. I start running away from them, adrenaline kicking in and I know I need to get away from them and back by my uncle. As I run down the hallway, starting to think that I can get away from these people, I feel something sharp hit me in the leg and my vision immediately starts fading and I can feel myself falling to the ground as everything goes black.

* * *

As I open my eyes, I start squinting against the light in the room and feel confused about where I am, not remembering what just happened. I try to lift my hands to rub my eyes but can barely move them. When I glance down at my hands, I see them tied to the chair I'm sitting in. I start trying to move my arms against the ropes holding them in, hyperventilating as panic sets in when I remember those creepy guys in the suits and know they must have kidnapped me. Did I really get kidnapped in London? This is definitely not how I pictured our world tour starting.

A man starts laughing at me and my head shoots up to look at him as I freeze. Standing in front of several computer monitors and a bunch of technology is a creepy guy in a white suit holding a cat. He's still laughing at my reaction. "Who are you? And why the hell did you kidnap me?"

He starts walking down the steps towards me, petting the cat he's holding as he smirks at me. "My name is Sir Atticus Moon. And why did I kidnap you?" He chuckles at this as he stops in front of me. "Well your precious boy band has something of mine and I want it back."

I raise my eyebrows at this, wondering if this guy is serious or if I got kidnapped by someone on drugs. "Oh really? What exactly did Big Time Rush take from you?" I ask him sarcastically, not believing this man that four 18 year olds in a boy band could have stolen something from him. But part of me starts wondering if maybe, just maybe, he's telling the truth because the guys have been missing since we first arrived at the hotel. But no, there's no way they stole something from him.

"They managed to get into possession of an anti-gravitational device of mine called the Beetle that I am going to use to rule the world." My face must show shock at this because Atticus is once again laughing at me. He begins pacing in front of me. "Yes, I plan to rule the world. But I need the Beetle back before I can do that and you're going to help me."

"I'm never going to help you. You're a psycho," I respond and glare at him. He raises an eyebrow at me before turning around and starting to walk towards the controls.

"Oh you've already helped enough. Now how about we give your little boy band a call." He types something on the keyboard and the screen lights up with the guys and some girl I don't recognize. Atticus is blocking me so the guys can't see me but I can see them. "Hello, Big Time Rush. You have something of mine."

"Well you're not getting it back!" Carlos says defiantly and I start wondering if Atticus isn't crazy and somehow the guys stole his device. I don't know how, but Carlos got his dream of them being spies in London. Well, maybe working with spies. Those boys are not clever enough to become actual spies.

"Really? Well you might want to think again about giving me the Beetle," he says evilly and steps to the side so that the guys can see me.

"Lauren!" they all shout out and James moves closer to the screen, a look of panic on his face when he sees me tied up. He reaches out towards the screen as if he could touch me through it before dropping his hand sadly.

"Now if you ever want to see Lauren again, you will bring me the Beetle within one hour," Atticus says and starts laughing evilly as he paces in front of me.

"Don't do it, guys!" I yell at them as I can see James start to consider giving Atticus what he wants to save me. "This guy is a complete psycho and you can't let him take over the world!"

Atticus turns around and starts glaring at me. "Would you shut up? I'm trying to have a dramatic evil speech right now." He turns back so that the guys can see him. They all look worried and like they have no idea what they should do to save me. "Now, bring the Beetle to Moon Manor within one hour. Or something terrible will happen to your precious girlfriend."

I hear someone creeping up behind me and look over my shoulder to see a tall, hulky guy wearing an eye patch. When he holds up his right arm and I see the hammer attached to it, my eyes widen in fear before turning back to the guys. James looks so upset right now and I can feel my eyes start to water at his reaction and over the fear that I might never see him again. "James, don't do it. I will find a way out of this."

"Unlikely," Atticus says to me with a chuckle before turning his attention back to the guys. "One hour."

Atticus starts walking back over to the controls to end the video and James starts shouting when he notices this. "I will save you, Lauren! I promise!" The screen shuts off and I put my head down, feeling the tears starting to fall down my face as the image of James looking so distraught keeps replaying in my head.

I hear Atticus walking towards me and pick up my head to glare at him, fighting against the ropes around my arm because I want to punch him so bad. "You won't get away with this."

"Oh I think I will," he says as he stops walking right in front of me. "Judging on his reaction, I think your boyfriend with give me the Beetle."

I kick out my legs that they made the bad decision to not tie up and my foot lands a blow on his groin. He topples over in pain as guards run over. "Oh if I didn't need you for my plan you would be destroyed right now. Someone tie up her feet!" As the guards secure rope around my legs, I can't help but smirk a little at causing him a little bit of pain. He deserves it for kidnapping me and trying to take over the world. After a minute, he stands back up and brushes off his suit as he glares at me. "Now, I have some important matters to take care of before I get the Beetle back."

Atticus starts walking away from me with his henchmen and after a few seconds, I hear a door slam shut. I sigh as I lean my head back against the chair, now feeling a little defeated after showing some defiance against him. I start questioning how I'm going to get out of this on my own. I don't want the guys to give Atticus the Beetle so that they can save me but I know they're going to try to come up with some crazy plan to get me. And I feel like Atticus won't keep his word to let me go, with or without the Beetle.

* * *

When I hear a door open and Atticus laughing after a short while of him being gone, I try turning around in the chair to see what's happening. As soon as I spot the Beetle in his hands, I start panicking over the thought of him hurting my best friends. "What did you do to them?"

"I didn't do anything to your precious boy band," Atticus replies as he walks past me to get to his computers. He starts typing things in and I try to figure out what happened to the guys.

"Then how did you get it? Because I know they wouldn't have just given it to you," I say as I start struggling against the ropes around my arms again, wanting to get free so I can take the Beetle from him.

"Oh we got it from some silly Swedish secret agents who were trying to take it from them." He places the Beetle on a spot that appears to be made for it and it starts glowing. A countdown appears on the screen with the moon behind it and I feel my stomach start turning in knots at the idea that he might complete his plan to take over the world. "Now we just have to wait a few minutes and then I can start taking over the world."

"It's not going to work," I say, trying to distract him so he won't complete his plans while I try loosening the ropes around me. "Someone will stop you."

"Oh yeah? Who?" Atticus pauses as an alarm starts going off behind him and I can see him become confused as he turns around to look at the screen. "Who is trying to get into my mansion?"

He starts typing while I continue struggling against my ropes but it isn't working. I look back up at the screen to see a picture of four guys making silly faces as they pass through the mansion's security gate and I can't help but start smiling. Atticus frantically starts pressing buttons as guards run in the room. "Darn you, Big Time Rush!"


	24. Chapter 24

**This chapter is easily my favorite one in this entire story. You'll understand about halfway through. Please review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Chapter 24:**

Chaos ensues as the alarm continues to go off and guards start running around everywhere, trying to prepare for the guys bursting in here soon. I can see Atticus look a little worried as he turns back to the countdown on the screen that shows only a few minutes yet. I use the distraction to really try to get out of the ropes tied around me, wanting to help out the guys as much as possible because Atticus is absolutely crazy and needs to get stopped. I have one foot free and I'm about to have the other loose when a door bursts open behind me. Turning around, I see all of the guys there in tuxedos and I start smiling when I see James there, looking so determined to save me. When he finds me, he starts smiling at me before starting to run into the room with the others, fighting the guards as they make their way towards Atticus.

James starts running towards me as Carlos and Logan start shooting the guards that are running towards all of them, covering James as he makes his way to me. Kendall runs past me with the girl to try to stop Atticus. "I told you I would save you," James says as he stops next to my chair and starts untying the ropes around me arm.

I can't stop smiling at him as he gets one arm free. I put the now free hand on his face, feeling relieved that I get to see him again. "I knew you would." James puts a hand over mine and squeezes it before moving to untie my other arm, but gets thrown to the side by Maxwell. "No, James!"

As James falls on the ground and Maxwell starts walking towards him, I frantically start getting the ropes off of my wrist so that I can try to help him. I glance up as I finish getting the ropes off to see Maxwell standing above James who has a panicked look on his face. I jump up and tackle Maxwell, trying to distract him from James. He barely budges and pushes me down to the ground. He looks down at me menacingly as he starts raising his hammer arm and I start panicking, wondering if he was about to kill me. But my distraction worked because Maxwell soon falls over, a dart in his back. I look over at James and see him holding a gun that is pointing at where Maxwell was just standing. When he sees that I'm okay, he jumps up and runs over to me, grabbing my hand to help me off the ground.

Once I'm standing, I throw my arms around him and pull him close to me, never wanting to let him go or be worried about us being in danger. He holds me tightly and it's like the chaos around us has temporarily paused. But then I hear evil laughter and we pull apart to look over at Atticus. The timer has hit zero and the guys haven't been able to stop him and the laser is now firing at the moon. "Oh no, we didn't stop him," I whisper mostly to myself.

Atticus keeps laughing as the screen shows how the moon is being pushed from its orbit by the laser. Carlos tries to run to stop him but some kind of barrier is up that stops him. I hold on to James tightly, scared of what is going to happen now since we didn't stop him. Suddenly, someone falls from the sky and sends Atticus flying and hits the switch to drop the barrier. The guys all run up to grab the Beetle as Kendall looks up at us from the ground. "Did I get him?"

I sigh in relief at Atticus' plan being stopped as James grabs the Beetle, shutting off the laser. I rub a hand over my eyes as the guys cheer in excitement, wondering just how we had managed to get caught up in this crazy plan. Like did we really just save the world? I start shaking my head at how the guys always manage to get us caught up in crazy plans when I feel someone grab my arm and start dragging me back. They cover my mouth to cover me from screaming and I start thrashing around, trying to hit the person and break free. When the person starts laughing, I realize it's Atticus and know that we're not free from him yet. Right before I get dragged out the door, I pull his hand away from my mouth and yell out to the guys who are still standing around and looking at the Beetle. "Guys, help!"

The guys all turn around in shock and when they see us leaving the mansion, they start running after us. Atticus starts laughing as he drags me on to the lawn and I look over my shoulder at where he's taking us and start panicking when I see the helicopter. If we didn't come up with some way to get me out of this, there's a good chance I'm going to get kidnapped again and I am not about that life. Especially not when I have the world tour starting tonight, assuming it hasn't been cancelled yet from us being late. Atticus stops in front of the helicopter and turns to face the guys, holding me with one arm and pointing a gun at me with the other. I stop moving when I see the gun and my heart starts racing as I try to think of some way to get out of this without getting shot. "Stop right there, Big Time Rush. Now give me the Beetle if you want your friend back."

I look over at James who is holding the Beetle and I can see the conflicting emotions pass over his face as he considers giving Atticus the Beetle. I start worrying after a minute passes and he's still deciding because he might think I'm more important than saving the world and I can't let that happen. I'm going to have to take matters into my own hands and I try to remember what I've learned about getting out of someone's grip. I raise my eyebrows at James and lightly shake my head, telling him not to hand over the Beetle and he starts frowning before I do something really stupid considering I have a gun pointed at my head.

I throw back my elbow into Atticus' stomach and he drops the gun to clutch his stomach. Then I step on his foot before throwing my head back, feeling satisfied when I feel my head strike his nose and he cries out in pain. I make a final blow to his groin and he falls down to the ground. I don't waste any time and knock him on his stomach before sitting on his back, pinning his arms down with my knees. Atticus tries feebly to escape but I have him pinned down. I look over at the guys and they're all standing in shock at what I just did and I chuckle lightly as I process that I did take down a man larger than me who was pointing a gun at me. I shrug at the guys. "Hey, I wasn't going to let you give him the Beetle and I can take care of myself."

James starts running towards me as a bunch of cars pull up to the mansion. The people rush over to me and grab ahold of Atticus before I move. James immediately pulls me into an embrace as Atticus gets handcuffed and taken away. I can feel James start shaking as he holds on to me tightly. "I was so scared I was going to lose you."

I move my head back so that I can look him in the eyes and grab on to his face, making him look at me as his eyes start watering. "But you didn't." He leans down and kisses me, both of us realizing that we could have lost the other today and needing to show through this kiss how much we love each other.

Someone clears their throat and we break away from the kiss, James pulling me against him as I start smiling. We look over at the middle aged man and I realize the rest of the guys have joined us. "Well done, Big Time Rush," he says before smiling apologetically. "Sorry for thinking you were bad boys when really you're good boys who were never bad boys at all." I stare at him confused, trying to decipher what he just said and I can see that some of the people around us are also feeling the same. "Is there anything the British secret service could do for you since you saved the world?"

Kendall looks at the rest of us before answering the man. "Well we are supposed to start our world tour here tonight and we're a bit late." We all agree with him and I start wondering how much trouble we're going to get into with Gustavo for being so late.

"Well we can get you there no problem!" The man says and gestures to the helicopter behind us. We all look at each other and start grinning before taking off running towards it. Carlos is bouncing in excitement as we get buckled in and I start laughing at the idea of flying to our concert in a helicopter. Two of the secret service members follow us on and head to the pilot seats.

As the helicopter takes off, I lean my head against James' shoulder and start smiling at our friends. "So how exactly did you guys end up in a plan to save the world?"

The four of them look at Kendall who raises his hands up in defense. "I still stand by my backpack choice!"

I raise my eyebrows at this and Carlos starts laughing at my reaction. "It's a long story but basically we saved the world because Kendall wouldn't listen to us to leave that backpack at home."

"And one that involves me getting shot with sleep darts all the time," Logan adds bitterly and the guys start laughing at this, leaving me confused about what exactly happened today.

But then I can see the arena in the distance and start to feel excited about performing again. "So we're really about to start our world tour?"

"Yep," the guys all respond at once and I can tell they're just as excited as I am about getting the tour started. I just hope we haven't messed it up today but maybe the world tour manager will be understanding when we explain that we were saving the world. Or he'll just think we're crazy.

The secret agent acting as copilot turns around to look at us as we near the arena. "We're going to drop you down onto the stage on ladders, alright? You should probably get ready since we're almost there."

I unbuckle myself and stand up, holding on to the seat to keep myself steady. I look up to see all of the guys ready next to me as the helicopter starts to hover over the stage. Two ladders are dropped down a bit and I start getting confused at how this is going to work. "Wait, there are only two ladders and five of us. How are we all going to get down?"

"I'll hold on to you," James says as he wraps an arm around my waist as we walk to the door. He climbs down on to one of the ladders first and holds out his hand for me. I carefully step down and he immediately wraps an arm around me tightly. Carlos gets down on the other side of our ladder and I look over my shoulder to see Kendall and Logan on the other ladder.

We start getting lowered down to the stage and the crowd starts screaming like crazy. I try to think of what it must be like for the fans to see your favorite group arriving on the stage from a helicopter and I would be freaking out in excitement if I was in the crowd. Maybe I should talk to my uncle about working in a cool entrance like this for the rest of the tour. We reach the stage and once we have stepped off of the ladders, the helicopter takes off.

I follow the guys backstage and I'm pushed to a dressing room quickly and forced to change into my outfit for the concert. While this happens, the stage manager starts passing me my microphone and stuff as she barely looks up from her clipboard. I can see that she is stressed about us being late and I try to get ready as quickly as possible. As she leads me towards the edge of the stage, I see the guys who have changed out of their tuxedos and into normal clothes. James gives me a quick kiss on the cheek before I'm given the signal to head out on stage where the lights have been turned off.

I walk to the center of the stage with two of my male backup dancers and as the crowd cheers, I feel excitement and a little bit nervous as I wait for the lights to come up. When the music for Blank Space starts, the lights are turned on and the crowd starts cheering louder. I start singing the song, getting to act out the lyrics describing a crazy girlfriend with the backup dancers and I have fun with this part, getting to act. Some of the crowd sings along to the song and it's a great feeling to know that some of them are fans of me and not just BTR.

When the song is done, the two dancers leave as I stand at the edge of the stage, taking in the crowd cheering and feeling overwhelmed by how amazing this experience is. "What's up, London?" I ask the crowd and I'm met with screams from them. "So I have had the craziest first day here. But it's just made me even more excited to be performing for you!" I pause as I listen to the crowd scream and start smiling at them. "Let's keep things going with another song. This one is Teenage Dream!"

The crowd once again knows the words to this song and it continues to make me feel pumped up about performing, especially because the next song is Dance Again and I have a great dance routine for it. When I finish dancing, I'm breathing heavy as the crowd screams. I grab some water and my guitar before turning back to the crowd. "So I have one more song for you tonight," I say as put my guitar strap on my shoulder and walk towards the center of the stage. "This one is really special to me since I wrote it myself. It's about someone who means the world to me," I pause and glance over to the side of the stage. James is standing there and smiling at me, knowing that I'm talking about him. "But when I first wrote this song, he had no idea how I felt. Then I took a chance and now I am probably the luckiest girl in the world with the sweetest boyfriend ever."

The crowd starts cheering at this and I can hear lots of people saying 'aww' as I look over at James. I speak away from the microphone, knowing he'll be able to tell what I'm saying. "I love you."

James smiles back at me from the side of the stage and responds, "I love you too."

I turn back to the crowd and start smiling at them cheering in anticipation of the song, most of them knowing which one I'm about to perform. I adjust my microphone on my head before getting ready to play my guitar. Turning to the crowd, I speak up to them one last time before the song starts. "Alright this is Sparks Fly."

I start playing the opening chords as the crowd starts screaming louder. "The way you move is like a full on rainstorm, and I'm a house of cards," I look over at the side of the stage to smile at James but don't see him with the guys. Carlos is smirking at me as I turn back to the song, trying not to get too distracted by where James went. "You're the kind of reckless that should send me running but I kind of know that I won't get far." I laugh lightly at that line after today's events because if I would have just run away from my feelings towards him, I wouldn't have been kidnapped.

I look out at the crowd and see that almost everyone is singing and it leaves me in shock, letting them singing the next line. "And you stood there in front of me just close enough to touch." As I start grinning about so many people knowing the words to the song I wrote, I join back in. "Close enough to hope you couldn't see what I was thinking of."

"Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain," I start moving towards the front of the stage as I sing the chorus, having fun with performing and being in front of a crowd with so much energy. "Kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile." I glance back over at the side of the stage and see James again, smiling mischievously at me as I sing the song about him. I can feel my cheeks heating up as I turn back to the crowd, his smile still having an effect on me even after a few months of dating. "Get me with those brown eyes baby as the lights go down. Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

The crowd starts screaming really loudly as I get to the second verse and I'm confused about why they're so excited about it but I'll go with it. I notice everyone looking towards the edge of the stage and when I turn to see what they're looking at, my jaw drops open in shock at hearing James singing over the speakers. "My mind forgets to remind me you're a bad idea," he starts walking towards me and I'm completely frozen in place, not believing that he is on stage with me and singing my song with me. I'm grateful to have backup musicians because I've stopped playing the guitar. "You touch me once and it's really something, you find I'm even better than you imagined I would be." James reaches where I'm standing in shock, smirking at my reaction as he winks at me. I finally start to realize this is really happening and grab his hand, squeezing it tightly as he continues singing and looking right at me. "I'm on my guard for the rest of the world but with you, I know it's no good. And I could wait patiently but I really wish you would."

I start smiling as I join him with singing the chorus, excited about this moment because I never thought something like this would happen. "Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain." I let go of his hand so that I can start playing my guitar again and he puts that hand on my cheek as we sing the song that is the reason we're together. "Kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile." The crowd is going crazy at this yet I hardly notice them because when you have James Diamond singing to you, you don't pay attention to anything else. "Get me with those brown eyes baby as the lights go down," James winks at me when he changes the lyrics to green eyes for my eye color and I try to keep from laughing as we finish the chorus. "Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

James moves away from me as we get to the bridge of the song and starts walking over to one side of the stage. He smirks at me and waves for me to follow him as I start singing the next line without him. "I run my fingers through your hair and watch the lights go wild."

When I reach him, he takes over singing the next line and starts walking towards the back of the stage. "Just keep on keeping your eyes on me, it's just wrong enough to make it feel right." And I can't help but listen to that line, unable to look away from him as he sings to me.

James starts walking backwards up the stairs on stage that are meant for their performance and when I start following him, he starts smirking at me and I know he planned this specifically for the next line I sing. "And lead me up the staircase won't you whisper, soft and slow."

We reach the top of the stairs and James sings the last line of the bridge to me. "I'm captivated by you baby like a firework show." He lowers his microphone as he stands right in front of me as the song starts to slow down.

"Drop everything now," I sing lightly as I stop playing guitar and grab one of his hands, thankful that the new version we rehearsed for this part of the song doesn't require me playing for it. "Meet me in the pouring rain."

James sings the next line and I don't know how he learned this part because it seemed like whenever I rehearsed it, he was always busy with his own rehearsal. "Drop everything now." He squeezes my hand as he smiles down at me. "Take away, take away the pain."

James leans in and quickly kisses me on the cheek before I start singing and get us back to the chorus. "Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain." I start playing my guitar again as the song starts to pick up and James moves behind me and wraps his arms around me, putting his hands over mine and playing the guitar with me. "Kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain." He moves away from me and starts smiling as the song is back at its normal tempo. "'Cause I see sparks fly, whenever you smile."

James joins back in with singing the final chorus and starts heading down one side of the stairs. "Get me with those brown eyes baby as the lights go down," I start walking down the opposite staircase, smiling over at James the whole time. "Give me something that'll haunt me when you're not around. 'Cause I see sparks fly whenever you smile."

We meet up again in the center of the stage and stop in front of each other. James puts a hand on my cheek as he lets me sing the next line. "And the sparks fly. Oh baby smile."

James is smiling at me as he joins me for the last line and I know I'm grinning ridiculously right now because singing with him has been so much fun. "And the sparks fly."

The crowd bursts into cheers as we finish the song but I hardly notice them as I put my arms around James' neck. All I notice is James standing right in front of me and smiling at me with that winning smile that would make any female want to kiss him. "I love you," I try to whisper but it's picked up by my microphone, letting the whole crowd hear me.

"I love you too," he says loudly and I think he purposely was trying to make sure that it was picked up by my microphone so that everyone could hear him. And the crowd definitely did because the screams are almost deafening as James puts both hands on my face before leaning in and kissing me in front of everyone. I run a hand through his hair as I kiss him back, never wanting the kiss to end after everything we went through today.

We pull away after a minute and I finally notice the crowd cheering. I start blushing at having been kissing James in front of them and step back from them. I turn towards the crowd smiling as James takes my hand and leads me up to the edge of the stage. "Everyone give it up for Lauren!"

Everyone starts cheering and I smile happily at them before taking a quick bow. "Let's give a real quick cheer for James because that performance was unrehearsed." I step back and clap my hands as the crowd cheers at James. He waves at them and chuckles a little, probably proud of how his plan worked out. I turn back towards the crowd. "Thank you guys so much. Now who's ready for Big Time Rush?" I'm met with screams and I start laughing lightly at this as I turn to James. He takes my hand before leading me offstage with him, smiling down at me the whole time. Once we're out of sight of the crowd, I give my microphone to the stage manager before turning towards James and hugging him tightly. "That had to be the sweetest thing you have ever done."

He hugs me back tightly and chuckles. "Well it was kind of a last minute idea. I had thought about it before but never mentioned it to anyone. But then you were talking before the song and I realized I had to do it, just to show you how much you mean to me, especially after what happened today."

"I absolutely loved it," I pull back a little so that I can look up at him, not being able to stop smiling at him.

"Well I absolutely love you," he replies and starts leaning in to kiss me. But we're interrupted by the guys and he starts groaning in annoyance at this.

"Hey lover boy, I know you're happy to see each other, but we have to get ready," Kendall jokingly says as they all walk up to us.

"But that was so amazing!" Carlos says excitedly and hugs us both and we start laughing at him.

When Carlos lets go of us, I turn towards James. "Go on and have an awesome show." I lean up and kiss him on the cheek before stepping back and out of the way so that they can get ready. James smiles at me before getting pulled away by Logan so that they can go out on stage.

When they run out on stage, the crowd starts screaming and still has so much energy. I stay on the side of the stage and watch them perform, dancing along and cheering them on the whole time. They play through almost their full new album with some old songs scattered in, like Worldwide, Boyfriend, Halfway There, and of course Big Time Rush. After performing for over an hour, they finish the show and run backstage. As they do, Kelly and Gustavo suddenly walk over with a goat near them.

The guys all raise their eyebrows, questioning what happened to them but still being out of breath from performing. I speak up, concerned at their rugged appearance. "What happened to you?"

"You don't even want to know," Kelly sighs as she sits down in one of the chairs backstage and grabs a bottle of water.

Gustavo crosses his arms, wanting to be angry at the guys for being missing earlier but knowing that they just finished performing. "What happened to you dogs?"

They all look at each other and laugh before responding to him simultaneously. "You don't even want to know."

"But the show was fantastic," I quickly say as I notice Gustavo wanting to start yelling at the guys. "And the tour had a great start."

"Good," he says and the guys let out a breath in relief. "Now we have to get going so we can get some rest for our show tomorrow night. Assuming you all had as crazy of a day that we had, we need it. Let's head out!"

My uncle starts heading out of the arena and I start following him out with the others, walking next to James. He wraps an arm around my waist and I lean against him. "This has definitely been the craziest day ever. I really hope the rest of the tour isn't like this," I say and the guys start laughing.

"What, you didn't like getting kidnapped by an evil villain and having us come in to save you and the world?" James jokingly asks as we walk out of the stage area and approach the limo waiting for us.

I roll my eyes as I respond to him sarcastically as I get in the limo. "Yeah let me tell you, that was what I also wanted."

James chuckles at this as he sits down next to me and I lean against him. "Well I'm sure the rest of the tour is going to be completely normal."

I look around at the four of them and raise an eyebrow. "With you guys? I doubt it," I joke before I look at him and smile. "But even if it is crazy, at least I'll be spending it with you."


	25. Chapter 25

**There is a lot going on in this chapter because I combined some smaller ones. But it is great and emotional and I love how this chapter turned out. And if you do too, please review and let me know!**

* * *

 **Chapter 25:**

"I am just so exhausted," I say as the tour bus pulls up to the Palmwoods. After three months of being on tour, the first one travelling through Europe and Asia before spending the last two in North America, we finally get to go home. The tour had been great, don't get me wrong. After the first day, we didn't run into anymore evil villains trying to take over the world and I was perfectly okay with that. Getting kidnapped is something I will gladly not do again. The other shows went fantastic, the guys all had so many fans around the world and a lot of them turn out to also be fans of me. A couple weeks in, Gustavo decided to have me sing Confetti Falling with James and after the crowd went crazy about it and a video of us performing got tons of views, my uncle made it a daily thing where I would perform with one of the guys.

That ended up being my favorite part of touring. The guys would switch every night who I would perform with and they would always choose different types of songs with me. Carlos always seemed to want to sing my songs and we played through almost my whole album eventually. He was always up for learning choreography to the songs and I had a blast every time we performed together. Logan seemed to always pick the upbeat BTR songs and he would teach me the dances that went along with them. Those nights were also a lot of fun just because I always enjoy performing songs that have a good dance routine with it. Then Kendall and I would play songs with our guitars. We had a pretty even amount of my songs and BTR songs that we performed but my favorite night was when we performed Worldwide together as the other guys went into the audience. And with James, well my uncle always insisted that we performed Sparks Fly again but we chose other love songs instead, wanting to leave that performance in London special. Every night that I would perform with James, I would still get giggly and my heart would race at him singing to me. These different performances made the tour interesting because the crowd would never know who to expect the duet to occur with and we never performed the same songs together twice.

James clears his throat next to me and snaps me out of my trip down memory lane. I look up at him and he's smiling at me, trying not to laugh at me zoning out as he holds out his hand for me. Everyone else has already made it off the bus, grabbing their things so they can finally be home. "Hey Lauren, did you want to go inside or continue living on a tour bus for another month?"

I roll my eyes at his sarcasm but take his hand, letting him pull me up. He puts an arm around my waist and we start walking over to the door. "I don't want to spend one more day on a tour bus. I miss having a bed that I can actually sleep comfortable in."

James chuckles at this as we walk over to the guys who are staring at the Palmwoods. We join them and Kendall speaks up. "So after 70 shows, 33 countries, and saving the world from an evil villain, we're finally home."

"I'm going to the pool!" Carlos yells at drops his bags to start running inside.

"Not so fast!" My uncle yells and Carlos stops moving and turns around to face Gustavo, a frown on his face. "Before you run away, just a couple things. First, good job on your first world tour. BTR and Lauren both got a lot of promotion around the world and we've had a lot more album sales. Secondly, I don't want to see any of you in the next three weeks you have off." He pauses as the guys cheer in excitement about the time off, despite knowing about it for a while now. "And third, thanks for not ruining this tour. You guys did well."

That's the closest thing the guys will ever get to an actual compliment from Gustavo. Kendall pats him on the shoulder and I can see my uncle cringe a little from the contact. "Thank you, Gustavo. It was a fun tour," he looks back at Carlos. "Now let's go to the pool."

The two grab their bag and take off running into the lobby. I shake my head at how crazy they are as Logan steps up in front of us. "I'm going to go find Camille so later," he says and points at Gustavo before following after Kendall and Carlos.

Mrs. Knight puts a hand to her head as she starts walking into the lobby with Katie. "I need a nap, an aspirin, and some time away from those boys."

I laugh at this as I look back at Kelly and Gustavo. I lean against James as I smile at my uncle. "So what are you going to do during our time off?"

"Have some peace and quiet for once, and write some new music for you and the dogs," he replies and I can see that he is exhausted from the tour, even if he won't admit it.

Kelly looks up from her clipboard at us. "We should probably get going since we have to do some things just to wrap up the tour. And don't you two have to get ready for your flight to Costa Rica?"

James shrugs at this and I can feel the motion as I lean against him. The mention of our flight has me excited to finally have some alone time with James. As soon as we found out we would have three weeks off, we decided immediately that we should take a week vacation together. And after being on tour for three months and someone else always being around, I was tired of having brief rendezvous just so that we could kiss each other for a little bit or cuddle without Carlos making some stupid comment. "Eh, we have a few hours before the flight leaves. But I guess we should get ready."

I wave at them as James starts to lead us towards the lobby. "Bye guys! Have a fun break!" Kelly waves at us as my uncle frowns, probably over the fact that the two of us are going on vacation alone for a week. He still somehow doesn't like the fact that I'm dating James, even though it's been almost seven months. But that's just how my uncle is and I don't think he's going to change any time soon.

As we walk into the lobby, I hear someone scream, "Lauren!" I look around and see Rachel running towards me and I break out of James grip to run towards her. We start hugging each other tightly as James starts chuckling at the two of us. "It's been so long since I saw you!"

"I know, I've missed you so much!" I respond, grinning as I hold on to my best friend. We had talked almost every day and skyped as often as we could but the conversations were always short due to time differences or one of us having to work.

She pulls away and I see her smiling at me in excitement. "It has been way too long since I saw you. And I'm still angry that my work schedule had me in Hawaii when you were performing here in LA. Of course I missed the night when you performed Dance Again with Carlos and you know that's my favorite song from your album."

"Good thing you don't live in the same place as those two people and can't ask them to sing it for you," James replies sarcastically and the look Rachel gives him has him throwing his hands up defensively. "Just a joke, please don't kill me before I get to go on vacation with my girlfriend!"

"You're lucky I can watch Youtube videos of the performances, Diamond," Rachel says to him and I scoff at this. It really is good to be back with her and watch her not put up with any sass from the guys. She looks back at me, smiling again. "Speaking of vacation, I did get stuff packed up for you so that you can relax in the little time that you're here."

"Have I told you that you're the best?" I ask her jokingly and she starts laughing at this.

She's about to respond when Carlos runs over and tackles her in a hug. "Rachel I missed you!" He says excitedly as he holds on to her tightly.

"Dude, can't breathe," she jokingly says as James and I look at each other, wondering why Carlos was so excited to see her. When Carlos let's go of her, she starts smiling at him before hugging him normally. "I missed you too but you act like I didn't talk to you at all during the three months you were gone."

I raise an eyebrow at this, not having realized that the two of them had been talking all tour. I look up at James and he seems to be having the same reaction to this news. Turning back to my two best friends, I see Carlos shrug at her. "I know but I miss getting to hang out with people when I'm gone for a while."

Rachel starts smiling at this and I swear her cheeks start turning a little pink. "Well we can hang out a lot this week since these two," she points a thumb over at James and I. "Are leaving us as soon as they get back."

I laugh at this. "Hey, we haven't had any real alone time for three months and I want a vacation. You try performing for three months and not be exhausted."

"I know," Rachel responds and smiles at me, showing that she was being sarcastic. "We should probably head upstairs so that you can get ready to go." She pauses and looks back over at Carlos. "Once they're gone, I'll head down to the pool."

"Awesome!" Carlos says excitedly and hugs her quickly before running back to the pool, jumping in right away.

James shakes his head at Carlos before turning back to us. "I'm glad to get some time away from him. He has too much energy and being on a tour bus with him is insane."

Rachel starts walking towards the elevators and waves a hand over her shoulder at us. "Well stop standing around in the lobby and let's go get you ready for your flight."

"Yes ma'am," James responds as the two of us follow her and I chuckle at him. When we reach the elevators, the doors open and I step on, grabbing James' hand. I smile up at him as the doors shut and he kisses me on my cheek. "I'll go head to my apartment and get my stuff packed up for vacation. I'll text you when I'm done?"

"Sounds great," I say as the doors open on the second floor. "I love you."

James squeezes my hand before walking out the door, turning around to look at me. "I love you too, Lauren," he says as the doors start to close.

As the elevator starts moving, I'm still smiling about getting to spend a week on vacation and turn to look at Rachel. She's grinning at me and I raise an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Nothing," she says as the doors open on our floor and we step out, making our way to my apartment. "You two are just so cute together that it's almost sickening at times."

"Thanks…?" I ask, confused about if that was a compliment as she unlocks the door. When I step in and see my familiar apartment, I can't help but sigh in relief at being home. "It's so good to be back from tour."

Rachel takes my bag from me and I walk in, heading straight to the couch. I plop down immediately and Rachel sits down next to me, crossing her legs as she turns to me. "I'm so happy that you're back here. This place is lonely without you and the guys. But I bet your tour was amazing."

"It really was," I say as I think back on all the amazing cities I got to see and how great it felt to perform with the guys.

"And I still can't get over how you performed with one of the guys almost every night," she pauses and sighs wistfully. "When I first saw the video of you and James singing Sparks Fly, I couldn't stop screaming about how perfect you two are together."

"How many times have you watched that video?" I ask her and she starts laughing as she gets up and heads into the kitchen to start making lunch. "Actually, I don't want to know because it's probably too many. But yeah, that was my favorite part of tour. I had no idea he was going to do that."

"Yeah I could tell by your face when he first started singing," Rachel says as she starts getting food out. "So I did get a suitcase all packed for you with everything you need for vacation. I did go out and buy a few things so don't be surprised when you unpack."

I raise an eyebrow at this as I walk over to the counter and sit down on one of the stools. I'm not sure if I want to know what she has packed for me and decide not to question it as I grab one of the apples she took out. "Have I told you lately how you're the greatest friend ever?"

"No, but feel free to say it more often," Rachel jokingly replies and we both start laughing at this. She hands me a plate of food and I can't help but keep looking over at the clock, anxious to go on vacation.

* * *

"Here are your keys and you can get to your room to the left over there," the man at the front desk says as he hands James the card keys and points across the lobby. "Feel free to contact us if you need anything and enjoy your stay."

James thanks the man and puts an arm around me as we start walking across the lobby. I lean against him as he pulls me close, enjoying him holding me tight. A warm breeze goes through the open lobby and I start smiling contentedly at how great life is right now. "So what do you want to do first?"

I look around the spacious lobby, some guests relaxing with cocktails around the water fountain in the center. My stomach starts rumbling and I shrug as I look up at James. "I'm pretty hungry so let's go to the buffet and then we can get settled in."

"Sounds like a great plan," James tells me and takes my hand as he starts leading us in the direction of the restaurants that we were told at the front desk. When we get to the buffet, there isn't a line since it is pretty late and past normal dinner time. We're led over to a table and I'm up and heading to get food right after we sit down. James chuckles at this but follows me to the food.

I browse through the options, grabbing a little of almost everything, definitely grabbing more than I can actually eat because I'm definitely thinking with my stomach right now. When I finally get back to the table, James is already there and he laughs a little when he sees the amount of food that I grabbed. I ignore him and start eating right away, enjoying all the food that you can't find normally in LA. James is fine with eating in silence for a few minutes, both of us feeling a little exhausted from traveling and just getting back from tour.

After a few minutes of eating, James sits back in his chair and smiles at me. "I'm so glad I get to spend a whole week with you, just relaxing on the beach."

"I know, right?" I reply to him between bites of food and start smiling at the fact that there is no one here to interrupt our time together. "Don't get me wrong, I loved being on tour and everything that came with it. But three months of that was just getting to be too much."

"I agree," James replies and looks past me towards where the food is. He starts chuckling at something and I turn around, trying to figure out what he's looking at. "By the ice cream. That girl is wearing one of your tour shirts."

I spot the girl and when I notice that I am on her shirt, I turn back around to James and start smiling in excitement. "I'll be right back," I say as I get up from the table. I hear James laugh a little at this as I make my way over to the girl. She hasn't noticed me walk up as she is too busy scooping ice cream for herself. I grab myself a bowl and wait for her to be done. "You know, I prefer strawberry over vanilla."

The girl drops the ice cream scoop in the container and quickly turns around, gasping when she sees me. The girl, who can't be older than thirteen, stares at me in shock for a minute and I can't help but start smiling at her reaction. "Is this really happening?"

I pick up the scoop she dropped in the ice cream container and start getting some ice cream for myself. When I turn to look at her, she's still standing there in shock. "Yes, it is really happening." After getting my ice cream, I glance over at James and see him laughing at the whole exchange with my fan. I hold out the ice cream scoop to her and she takes it absentmindedly as she continues staring at me. "We noticed your tour shirt and I had to come over and say hi. What show did you go to?"

"Um, Chicago," she replies slowly, still getting over the shock of me being there. I start smiling when I recall that Chicago was when James and I performed Red together. "Wait, did you say we?" I start laughing and point over to where James is sitting. The girl looks over at him and squeals a little in excitement as James waves at her. When she turns back to me, her face is lit up in excitement. "Wow I did not think I would meet my two favorite celebrities on my last day of vacation."

I start laughing at this and can tell that I just made this girls day. "What's your name?" I ask her as I see a woman walking up to us quickly.

"Alyssa," she replies as the woman stops at us.

She looks over at me and smiles apologetically. "I'm so sorry if my daughter was bothering you."

"Not at all," I reply as the girl looks like she's ready to start protesting against her mom interrupting us talking. "I was the one who started talking to her."

The woman looks at me confused for a few seconds. "Why do you look familiar?"

This makes me start laughing and I point at Alyssa's shirt. "Probably because I'm on her t-shirt."

The woman's eyes widen at this and Alyssa starts getting excited as she grabs her mom's hand. "And Mom, guess who she's here with! She's with James!"

"Oh wow," is all her mom says as she takes this in. "He's your favorite, right?"

"Yes," Alyssa replies dreamily. "He's so beautiful."

"I can introduce you to him," I say, trying not to laugh at her reaction to his looks. Her eyes widen at this and I start walking towards my table, waving at them to follow me. "Come on." I can hear Alyssa following close behind me as I walk back over to James who has been smiling at this whole exchange. When I stop at our table and turn to Alyssa, she's suddenly very shy. "Hey James, this is Alyssa. Apparently you are her favorite and she thinks you're so beautiful."

"I didn't say that!" Alyssa says embarrassedly to me quickly and James starts to chuckle at her reaction. This makes Alyssa's cheeks turn bright red and I can't help but feel good about introducing her to her favorite guy in BTR.

"Well it's very nice to meet you, Alyssa," James responds charmingly in that way he always talks to fans, making them feel like they have 110% of his attention. "And you don't need to deny it, we all know I'm the most beautiful one in BTR."

His comment has me rolling my eyes but Alyssa seems to not be bothered at all by him being a little conceited. Her mom smiles at us, "Do you think I could take a picture of you two with her? She really does love you too and it would be really nice to have a picture to remember meeting you."

"Of course," I reply immediately and James nods his head in agreement. I move over by James and wave at Alyssa to join us who is suddenly in shock again at the idea of taking a picture of us. Her mom nudges her over and she moves right between us. Her mom takes the picture and Alyssa hugs us both afterwards.

"Okay, Alyssa, we should let them enjoy their dinner. They're probably on break right now and deserve some time away from fans," her mom says and I can see Alyssa start frowning at the thought of her bothering us.

"You weren't bothering us at all," James says quickly, clearly noticing the same thing as me.

"Yeah I was the one who went up to her because we noticed her tour shirt," I add and can see that Alyssa is smiling again.

"Well thank you so much," Alyssa replies excitedly and hugs me again. "You just made my entire life."

"I'm glad I could do that," I reply genuinely. As she starts to walk away with her mom, she looks back at us smiling. "It was great meeting you, Alyssa!"

As I sit back at the table, James is chuckling again. "Did she really say I was so beautiful?"

"Yes," I say, starting to laugh too. "I mean, it's obviously true." James starts to do the face and I lightly slap his hands, shaking my head at him. "So that was interesting. I always love meeting fans so thank you for pointing out her shirt."

"No problem," James says as he grabs my hand that I had slapped his with. "So now back to being on vacation and no more celebrity stuff. What do you want to do tomorrow?"

"Honestly, I just want to relax on the beach with you and do absolutely nothing," I say before taking a spoonful of ice cream.

James contemplates this for a second as he rubs his thumb over the back of my hand. He starts smiling at me again. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

I stare out at the ocean, watching the sun set as I lean against James, holding his hand in mine. This past week has been amazing and I wasn't quite ready for it to end yet but unfortunately our flight back was tomorrow. The first two days we had spent just relaxing at the hotel and it couldn't have been better, spending all that time with James. We tried out the archery at the hotel but we stopped very quickly after James almost hit the instructor. After that we went back to the beach and stayed away from sharp objects. We did go jet skiing and that was a lot of fun. Then we spent one day going on an adventure day where we got to go snorkeling, explore some of the local jungle, and even went down a zip line. That was one of my favorite days since both of us were up for the adventure and trying out new things. The rest of the week we spent relaxing at the hotel, making up for three months of touring craziness.

And then today we spent our last day at the spa, James' treat to me, and then went to the nicest restaurant at the resort. When we finished eating, there was still a little bit of daylight left so James took me down to the beach to enjoy our last bit of sun in Costa Rica.

"What are you thinking about?" James asks me after a little while of silence.

I glance up at him and see that he's looking down at me, a smile tugging at the edge of his mouth. But there's something in his eyes and he seems to be not smiling fully. I can't tell if it's nervousness or worry and I have no idea why he would be feeling that right now because all I feel right now is happiness and relaxation. I shrug off the look in his eyes and start smiling at him. "All of the fun things that we've done on this trip. How I don't want to leave this beach yet. You."

"I was thinking about me too!" He jokingly says and starts laughing at this. I lightly smack him on the chest and shake my head at his narcissism. James stops laughing and looks at me, suddenly serious. "No, but really, I was thinking about something important."

His sudden change in mood has me start feeling worried and I turn so that I am facing him fully. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong," James replies quickly, noticing that I was starting to worry. He always seems to be able to figure out what I'm thinking like that. "No, everything is absolutely fantastic right now and I've been having an amazing time on vacation with you."

James pauses and I can see that look in his eyes again. It's definitely nervousness but what does he have to be nervous about right now? He takes a deep breath as I wait patiently to find out what he is thinking about. James grabs on to my other hand before continuing. "I just want to say that you are honestly the most perfect person I have ever met." I start protesting this, knowing that I definitely have some major flaws and he lets go of one of my hands to hold it up, stopping me from continuing. "You may not think it, but I do. You're perfect for me and somehow you make me a better person." He pauses as he looks down at me and I start smiling at what he is saying, feeling so loved despite not knowing why he is bringing this up now.

"You know, ever since I met you, I couldn't help but fall in love. And every day since then, I've somehow started to love you even more." I start blushing at what he said and look down at the ground. James lifts up my chin so that I can look at him and I see him smiling but that nervousness is still there. "I honestly don't know what I would do if I wasn't with you. It took those few days when we broke up for me to realize that I never want to be without you."

James pauses again and lets go of my hand. He starts digging around in his pocket for something and I just look at him confused about why he is saying all of this right now. I feel the same way as him, no doubt about that, but it's just odd that he would bring this up right now out of nowhere. "James, what is going on?"

James just smiles at me knowingly as he pulls his hand out of his pocket. I can't see what is in his hand but I gasp when he gets down on one knee. He opens the small black case in his hand, revealing a beautiful diamond ring inside. I cover my mouth with my hands, feeling overwhelmed at what is happening right now as James smiles up at me. "Lauren, will you marry me?"

I can feel my eyes starting to water in happiness because there really is no one else I would rather spend the rest of my life with. None of my past relationships have ever felt like this and I'm so madly in love with him. I start shaking my head yes as I start grinning, feeling tears starting to fall down my cheeks. James' face lights up when he sees my reaction. "Yes. God, of course I will marry you."

James starts smiling with such joy when he hears this, the nervousness that was clearly caused by the thought of proposing gone. "Really?" When I nod my head at him again, he places the ring on my left hand before standing up. I look down at the ring, part of me not believing that James had just proposed to me. He suddenly picks me up and starts spinning me around, laughing happily as he does so. I can't help but join in laughing with him because I'm just so happy right now.

He sets me down after a few seconds and I smile up at him as I put my arms around his neck. The look he's giving me is just pure love and I could not have found a more perfect boyfriend, wait, fiancée. James starts leaning in and I pull him down towards me, closing the distance between us. Our lips meet and there is so much emotion in this kiss, both of us knowing that this can show more emotion than words can right now. His arms wrap around my waist and he pulls me closer to him, deepening the kiss as our need for each other becomes so much greater. I run my fingers through his hair as he pulls away slightly to talk to me in-between kisses, still close enough that I can feel his lips move against mine as he speaks. "I love you so much."

He kisses me again with new passion before I could even respond to him. Without breaking the kiss, he suddenly sweeps me up into his arms and starts walking back towards the hotel. I pull back to look at him in shock over the sudden action. "James, what are you doing?"

"Getting us back to our room," he replies nonchalantly as we get off the beach and start walking past the pools.

"And I can't walk myself?" I ask him jokingly. Part of me is glad that no one is really out by the pool right now because this is a little embarrassing to be getting carried into the hotel by James.

"Shh, don't ruin the moment," James whispers to me as we get inside the building and he makes his way towards the elevator.

We pass a family as they leave the elevator and I start blushing when they stare at us weirdly. I look up at James as he steps on to the elevator. I move my left hand to his cheek, staring a little at the ring before smiling at him as the doors close and he pushes the button for our floor. "Guess what?"

"What?" He happily asks back as he smiles down at me.

"I love you," I whisper and lean up the short distance to kiss him lightly as the doors open on our floor.

James pulls away from me and there's a passion in his eyes as he walks out and quickly makes his way down the hallway to our suite at the end. He opens the door and as soon as he walks in, he finally sets me down. He kicks the door shut behind him and immediately pulls me towards him again, kissing me passionately. James starts walking me backwards as his hands run up and down my body as mine move to the front of his shirt. I undo his tie and start unbuttoning his shirt before my legs hit the bed and I fall backwards onto it, James hovering over me. He gently picks me up and moves me to a more comfortable spot as he holds himself over me without placing his weight on me.

I slip his shirt off before he starts trailing kiss down my neck and I run my fingers down his chest. His chest is so while toned and I once again question how I got lucky enough to be able to call him mine. "God, I want you so badly."

James' hands reach behind me and start playing with the zipper on my dress. He whispers against my neck, sending shivers down my spine. "You already have me."

* * *

"Good morning, future Mrs. Diamond," James says as soon as he notices I'm awake.

I look up at him sleepily and smile at him, enjoying seeing him with his hair all tussled and feeling relaxed. I rest my head back down on his chest again. "I really like the sound of that," I say as I stare aimlessly at the room, tracing random patterns on his chest as I listen to his heartbeat. This moment is just so perfect and I don't want it to end yet and have to go back to reality.

James kisses the top of my head as he runs a hand over my back slowly. I hear him sigh before he speaks. "I really don't want to leave here yet," he says and I chuckle at him thinking the same thing as me.

"I was just thinking that too. But we have too," I say and try to shrug my shoulders. "Hey, what time is it?"

James reaches over to the dresser and grabs his phone. He squints at the screen for a second before setting it back down. "It's 10:12."

"What?" I ask and sit up right away, looking over at the clock in the room. And sure enough, that's the time. "We're supposed to leave the hotel at 11 and I'm not packed at all!"

I jump out of bed and start running over to my suitcase, not really caring that I'm running through the room naked. I grab the first clean clothes I can find in the room and throw them on before grabbing clothes for James and tossing them to him. "Here, just wear this. I guess we're not going to have time to shower today."

I start running around the room, trying to get all of our stuff together while not panicking at the thought of being late to the airport. I don't even notice that James has moved until he places his hands on my shoulders, causing me to jump a little. "Hey, relax," he says and I turn around to face him, taking a deep breath. "I'll help you pack and we'll get everything together in time."

I lean against him for a minute as he wraps his arms around me, feeling content in his embrace. "Thank you," I whisper and we stay there for a minute before I move away. "Alright, let's get his all packed up."

With James helping, we get down to the lobby with a few minutes to spare before we have to leave. It takes us about 20 minutes and the next hour is chaotic as we make our way through security. When we finally reach our gate, I'm happy to sit down and relax for a few minutes.

I plop down in one of the chairs and James sets his stuff down in front of me. "I'm going to go grab us some food since we didn't have time to eat at the hotel."

"Sounds good," I say and smile up at him before he heads towards the shops and restaurants we passed on our way to the gate. I pull out my phone and start catching up on twitter since I didn't look at it at all while we were at the hotel, wanting to have some time away from everything. I send out a tweet real quick saying _'Seriously so happy right now'_ and once it sends, I set my phone down.

A few seconds later my phone starts ringing and I start smiling when I see who it is. "Hello?"

"Lauren!" I hear Carlos shout and I pull the phone away from my ear because he's so loud. "I've missed you!"

I laugh a little at his excitement. "Carlos, it's only been one week. We really haven't been gone for that long and besides, you had spent three months with us on tour."

"I know, but both of my best friends were gone and I'm lonely," Carlos responds sadly and I roll my eyes at him being overdramatic. "So how was your vacation? How's James?"

"Great," I say and look over to where James is walking back with food and coffee. I smile at him before looking down at the ring on my left hand, still not believing that we're engaged. "Really great."

I can take him take a deep breath in excitement before he starts talking. "Did James seduce you before or after he proposed?"

"Carlos!" I say to him annoyed as James sits down next to me and I shake my head at him. "James did not seduce me… Wait, how do you know about him proposing?"

James gives me a weird look as I hear Carlos scoff at this like the answer is obvious. "Lauren, I'm best friends with both people in your relationship. I find out about everything between the two of you."

"Remind me to never tell you anything again," I jokingly say to him. He starts saying something but I shush him as a flight attendant makes an announcement about our flight starting to board. "Hey I have to go, our flight is about to start boarding. But I'll see you and everyone else in a few hours."

"Bye Lauren! Say hi to James for me!" Carlos replies before I hang up the phone.

James looks at me for an explanation about my conversation as I put my phone away and grab my bag. We start walking over to the desk as I start explaining. "Carlos seems to think that you had to seduce me for me to say yes to you. Oh and he says hi."

He just laughs at this as we hand our boarding passes to the attendant at the desk. He waits to respond until we are past the desk and walking to the airplane. "Why am I not even surprised at his reaction?" I shrug at this and he laughs a little. "Yeah I'm definitely not telling him anything again."

"He will go crazy, not hearing anything about what's going on in our relationship," I jokingly say as we get to our seats, both of us knowing we're still going to talk to Carlos about things. After we sit down, I grab his hand with my left one, looking at the ring for a second before looking up to see him smiling at me. "Alright, let's go home."


	26. Chapter 26

**And so, we have the chapter of finding out everyone's reactions to the news. Just a fun little chapter! If you liked it, please leave a review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Chapter 26:**

"Lauren, what are you doing here?" My uncle asks me as soon as I walk in to Rocque Records. I had been putting off telling Gustavo about getting engaged to James because honestly I'm a little scared of what his reaction is going to be. I didn't want to be the reason Gustavo kicked James out of the band, although I think that is unlikely to happen.

Kelly glances up from the papers she is looking at and her faces scrunches in confusion immediately when she sees me. "Yeah why are you here when we don't start working again for another week?"

I smile at them as I walk over to the couch. I plop down and look at them, resting my head on my left hand, hoping they'll just see the ring and I won't have to say anything. "I know, but I had something exciting to tell you."

They both stare at me expectantly, waiting for me to tell them. I sigh when I realize they're not going to make this easy for me. "Well what is it…?" Kelly trails off when I start waving my hand at her. Her eyes start to widen and her mouth jumps open in shock, and I know she has seen the ring. "No way!" She squeals in excitement and runs over to me, grabbing my hand so that she can look at the ring. She twists me hand around, trying to get a good look at the ring as it shines from the lights in the studio. "I can't believe this. You know, I would have bet on Kendall being the first one to get married."

The word 'married' seems to get through to Gustavo who has been frozen ever since Kelly first saw the ring. "What? You're marrying the monkey dog?"

Kelly backs away slightly from me after my uncle's outburst, probably a little worried about getting in the middle of us potentially yelling at each other. And I can't really blame her, I would have done the same thing. "Yes, I am marrying _James_ ," I say as I look over at my uncle. I try reading his emotions but I can't tell if he's angry at me or something else.

Gustavo gets up from his chair and I start getting a little worried. He begins pacing in front of me and holds his hands in front of him. "Now Lauren," he says, oddly calm and that makes me even more concerned because his biggest outbursts happen after he's calm. "I've been working with the dogs for almost three years now. James is one of the most conceited, dumbest people I know."

"No he's not-" I start protesting right away because he really is wrong about that but he holds up a hand to stop me.

When my uncle knows I'm going to stay silent, he continues while still pacing in front of me. "But, ever since you two have started dating, I've seen a huge change in him. For once he cares about someone other than himself." He pauses to look over at me and he starts smiling at me. "I can tell that he truly loves you."

I raise my eyebrows at his response since it is the exact opposite of what I expected. "So you're not mad about us being engaged?" I ask him tentatively.

"No, I guess not," he sighs as he walks over to the couch and sits next to me. I hug him right away and he surprisingly returns it. "You always have been my favorite niece."

I scoff at this as I move away and look at him. "I'm your only niece."

"Exactly," he says and genuinely smiles at me. He starts chuckling and I raise an eyebrow at him. "Boy, the media is going to love this."

"When were you planning on announcing this?" Kelly asks as she looks down at her clipboard, back in business mode. Not really a surprise since it is her job to make sure that we look good and keep up our image.

I shrug as Kelly and Gustavo look at me. "We haven't really talked about it. In fact, we haven't even told all of our friends yet." I hadn't wanted to tell our friends before getting around to telling Kelly and Gustavo. But we were planning on having a small dinner party with everyone later so we could tell them.

Kelly raises her eyebrows at this. "But you have told your parents?" I can feel myself starting to cringe at this and Kelly rolls her eyes. "Lauren, you need to tell them before this gets out to the public. They're not going to be mad at you."

"Fine," I say defeated as I pull out my phone, sending a glare towards Kelly. I had been dreading calling my parents because I had no idea what their reactions are going to be. Yes they like James but that doesn't mean they will approve of getting engaged after not very long of dating.

I dial my mom's number and put the phone to my ear, listening to it ring and hoping that she wouldn't answer. But when it stops ringing, I start feeling a little bit of panic. "Hello, dear, how was your vacation?"

"It was great," I reply absentmindedly, know that this would be a great transition into telling her. I look over at Kelly and she gives me a nod of encouragement. "Actually something really exciting happened on vacation."

"Oh really?" She asks me curiously and I feel my heart start racing as I get nervous. "Well what is it?"

"Well I want you to remember that I am an adult and can make my own decisions and I'm really happy right now," I start rambling and my mom clears her throat, getting me to stop. I take a deep breath as she waits patiently for me to continue. I blurt out what I need to tell her quickly, wanting to get it over with. "James and I are engaged."

There's a few seconds of silence and I start wondering if I should just hang up and not talk to her for a few days. She finally speaks up, "Wow. I guess- I mean- wow." We both sit in silence for a couple minutes, she's probably processing this and I just don't want to start talking again because I haven't gotten a good enough answer yet. "You're really getting married?"

I can't tell how she is feeling and give Kelly a look for help but she just shrugs her shoulders at me. "Yes mom, I'm getting married."

"Are you sure?" She asks tentatively and I still can't tell how she feels. "Didn't you just meet him and aren't you both young?"

I sigh at this and get up from the couch to start pacing around the room, needing to move before my anxiety about this conversation makes me have a panic attack. "I am very sure about marrying James. I have never felt something like this in my previous relationships and you know how devoted I was to Dan." She makes a sound like she doesn't like that I've made a good counter argument. "And didn't you always tell me when I was younger that when you find the person you're meant to be with, you just know? Besides, you and dad got married when you were eighteen too."

She pauses for a few seconds and I feel confident that I have made a good argument against the few things she was concerned about. "Damn you for taking after your dad and being good at making your point. Well, are you happy dear?"

I sit back down on the couch and start smiling as I think about being with James. "More than you could possibly know."

"Then I am happy for you, sweetheart. All I've ever wanted was for you to be happy," she says and I hear her sniffle a little. "Sorry, I just can't believe that my little girl is getting married already!"

"Please don't start crying now, you'll make me cry too," I say jokingly and she starts laughing about this.

"Alright, alright, I'll save the tears for your wedding," she laughs before clearing her throat. "Have you told your father yet?"

I cringe at this as I look over at my uncle who is back to working, probably trying to pretend for now that I'm not marrying James. "Can't you tell him?"

My mom sighs at this, knowing it's a typical response for me. While I have always been close to my dad, I always go through my mom when telling him important things. "I'll tell him to call you because you have something special to tell him. But then you're on your own. If you're old enough to get married, you can tell your father yourself."

"Fine," I say defeated as I lean back against the couch, already not looking forward to that conversation. "We're planning for having the wedding in September so make sure you're free."

"I will honey," she says happily to me. "I have to get going now but I'll tell your father to call you. And I really am happy for you, dear. I love you."

"Love you too, mom," I say before she hangs up the phone. I turn to Kelly who is waiting for me. "Well that went surprisingly well. Although I'm not looking forward to when my dad calls."

"Oh you'll be fine," she says reassuringly. "Your dad has always spoiled you and will go along with anything that makes you happy."

"She's right," Gustavo adds and I raise an eyebrow at him. "Sometimes I think Dave cares more about you than he does Scarlet."

I shrug at this as I look back over at Kelly. They are right but I'm still not ready to have that conversation. Kelly looks down at her phone before smiling at me. "Well good news, I just got a photoshoot booked with People for you and James. We can announce your engagement that way."

"That sounds great," I say to Kelly before standing up, grabbing my purse from the couch. "Now I would love to stay and chat but I have to make sure Rachel and the guys aren't burning down my apartment while getting ready to have dinner with our friends. Thanks for taking the news well, Uncle Gustavo."

"You haven't given me enough time to be completely angry about it so I suggest you leave before that happens," he responds and I chuckle as I start heading towards the elevators.

"Just admit that you like him already," I shout over my shoulder as I press the button for the elevator. The doors open as I hear him start screaming. I shake my head at him as I start moving down, happy that so far their reactions have gone well. I can only hope that when my dad calls, things will go well too.

I step out in the lobby and make my way outside, walking back to the Palmwoods quickly. I only had a half hour before people started showing up at my apartment. I send Rachel a text letting her know I'm on my way back and as I go to put my phone away, it starts ringing. When I see it's my dad calling, I sigh before picking up, not expecting him to call this soon. "Hi dad."

"Hi Lauren, I only have five minutes and your mother said you have something important to tell me. So you'll have to make it quick," he says immediately in that cool and collected tone he always has.

I start rambling as I get close to the Palmwoods, not quite ready to tell him. "Well, I just went on vacation with James and we're really happy together and you have always told me to make my own decisions that make me happy."

"Four minutes and you're rambling," he interrupts and I hear him laugh lightly at me. "Just tell me, dear. I'm sure I'll be fine with it."

"Well, when we were on vacation, James proposed to me," I pause as I walk into the lobby and my dad is silent so I start rambling again once I'm in the elevator and away from people. "We're engaged. I'm going to marry James."

"I understand what being proposed to means," he replies a little sarcastically and once again I'm reminded of where I get that trait from. As I wait inside the elevator, I start shifting nervously as I wait for him to give his opinion on it. It's not until the elevator stops on my floor that he continues. "Well, I only have a minute left but when will I be walking you down the aisle?"

I start smiling at this as I step out on my floor. "So you're okay with this?"

"Of course," he replies immediately and I wait in the hallway to finish talking to him. "I raised you to make good decisions about yourself so I trust your judgment. I liked James a lot when I met him and he will make a great son-in-law."

"Thanks dad," I say and start smiling, happy that both parents are okay with me getting married. "You probably have to get going now but I love you and I'm happy you like James."

"I love you too, Lauren, and I'll try to visit you next month. Does the second weekend work for you?" He asks as James opens the door.

He leans against the doorway and I smile at him as I respond to my dad. "I'll make it work. Bye dad." I hang up the phone and turn to James who takes me in his arms immediately. "That went surprisingly well with everyone."

"Good," James says before kissing the top of my head. When he lets go of me, I look up to see him smiling down at me. He holds out a hand to me and I take it, letting him pull me up against him. He runs a hand over my hair as I lean against him, loving how I feel in his arms. "I also called my mom while you were gone."

"And?" I ask and look up at him, knowing that he's not telling me everything. He had been just as nervous about telling his mom, if not more than I had been.

"Well she didn't say if she approved or not," James replies and I start frowning at this. "I think she's waiting to decide how she feels after she meets you next month when she comes to visit."

"When will she be here?" I ask as he looks a little worried about seeing his mom. And from what he's told me, Brooke Diamond is an intimidating woman.

"Second weekend," he says and I must make a face at this because he raises an eyebrow at me. "Why is that a problem?"

"I just got done telling my dad that he can visit that weekend," I sigh as I step back and grab both of his hands. I don't know how this is going to go, having his mom and my dad together and discussing the wedding together.

James starts chuckling before kissing me on the cheek. "Well that's going to be an interesting weekend. It will be fun to see who gets intimidated by the other first." He continues laughing when I make a face at him, wondering if he is crazy for thinking that will be fun. He starts leading me into my apartment as he smiles at me. "Well don't worry about it now. We will get through it together. And we didn't burn your apartment down while you were gone."

"Well that's a good thing," I reply sarcastically as I let him lead me over to the kitchen. Rachel smiles at me as I sit down on one of the stools next to Carlos. I smile at the two of them as they finish getting food ready for dinner. I really am lucky to have friends like them that were so willing to help me out with this little dinner party. Looking around as James stands behind me and puts his arms around me, I see Kendall getting stuff ready in the living room and Logan is nowhere to be seen. "Hey, where's Logan?"

"He had to run to the store real quick," James replies as he rests his head on my shoulder. Carlos nods in agreement as Rachel pulls a pizza out of the oven.

"Well, while we're waiting for the others to get here, James and I have something important to ask you two," I say to my two best friends and I can see them start getting curious.

Kendall walks over as Rachel sets the pizza down before crossing her arms at me. "Well what is it?"

"Rachel, will you be my maid of honor?" I smile at her, waiting to get her response even though I already know what it will be.

She stares at me for a couple seconds, not showing any emotion and I start wondering what is wrong with her before she cheers in excitement. She tries to grab my hands with the oven mitts on as she grins at me. "Of course I will! Oh I've been waiting for this day since we were five and I can't wait to be part of your wedding!"

As Rachel runs around the corner and pushes James out of the way so she can hug me, Carlos clears his throat at us. I can see him getting curious and I give James a nudge. "Well what did you want to ask me?"

James looks over at Kendall to make sure he doesn't have a problem with not getting asked. Kendall nods his head a little, a response I knew he would give since we had already had this conversation with Logan. Both of them know that James and Carlos are closer and figured this would happen. James turns back to Carlos and holds his arms out expectantly. "Hey buddy, will you be my best man?"

Carlos jumps up from the stool he's sitting on, knocking it over before running to James and squeezing him tightly in a hug. "Of course I will!" James starts awkwardly patting him on the back, barely able to move his arms because of Carlos. "Wow I didn't think you would ask me, I'm honored man!"

"Can't breathe," James wheezes, causing Carlos to let go of him while the rest of us laugh at the two of them. They really are such great friends and it makes me happy every time I see them together and I hope nothing changes between them. Once he can breathe again, he chuckles and pats Carlos on the back. "Did you really think I would pick anyone else? You've always been my closest friend."

Carlos shrugs at this as the door opens. I look over and see Logan carrying several bags of food and Camille standing behind them. I smile at them as they walk in and Logan heads over to us, sighing once he sets the food down. He pauses to look at us as Camille puts an arm around his waist. "So what have I missed?"

Carlos excitedly grabs on to Logan's arm and I can see Logan cringe at the grip. "James just ask me to – Ow!" Carlos glares over at James who just stepped on his foot, stopping him from continuing what he was saying. I look at them confused before realizing a second later that Carlos was about to give away our engagement news in front of Camille. When Carlos looks over at me, seeming to want me to do something about James hurting him, I subtly nod my head at Camille and when Carlos looks at her, he realizes what he almost did. He cringes slightly at almost giving away our secret before turning back to Camille who looks incredibly confused about what is going on right now. And I can't really blame her, but she should be used to these kinds of things with the guys. "Um, James just asked me if I want to, uh, go see that new superhero movie that I've been wanting to see for months. Super Mega Awesome Superhero Fighting…" He trails off when he realizes that no one is believing the lie he was trying to come up with.

Rachel sighs before grabbing Carlos' arm and picking up some grocery bags and dragging him away from us. "Come on, let's go make sure the table is all ready for people when they get here." As she starts dragging him to the dining room, she looks back at me and I smile at her, grateful that she is taking care of Carlos before he really does give away that James and I are engaged.

I turn back to Camille who is looking at me with an eyebrow raised, clearly questioning what is going on with all of us. I hold out my arms to get a hug from her and she starts relaxing before hugging me. I let out a sigh of relief that we avoided her knowing now because I would much rather tell everyone at once. When she lets go of me, I glance over at the clock and see that everyone should be arriving any minute now. "Camille, thanks for coming over tonight. Would you mind giving me a hand with getting the food on the table? I don't trust the guys to not eat everything."

"Hey!" The three guys near us all respond at that and I roll my eyes at them. They all know it's true and that's the only reason why they are offended at it.

I pick up plates of corndogs and French fries, rolling my eyes at the food choices they made while I was gone. I nod my head to the other piles of food, thankfully not just frozen food, and start heading to the dining room table. "Come on, Camille." She follows me over after grabbing stuff and as we set down the plates, there's a knock on the door.

Before I can even start walking over, James runs to the door and opens it, revealing Lucy standing there with a plate of cookies. "Lucy, do come in," he says dramatically as he steps to the side and waves his arm towards us. She rolls her eyes at this as she walks in.

I head towards her, smiling at seeing my friend and happy that she was able to come over. The past few weeks have been so crazy that I really haven't had time to see any of my friends other than the guys. As I take the plate from her, I put my left hand in my pocket, just checking that the ring is still in there. It's weird to not be wearing it right now but that would definitely ruin the surprise of telling everyone. I smile at Lucy and she returns it, not feeling the need to keep up the bad girl persona she has around me. "Thanks for coming, Lucy. It's great to see you again."

"You know I will never turn down food," she responds as she looks at the other guys around my apartment. "What's up dorks?"

"That's not nice," Kendall says, chuckling as he walks over to us. He kisses Lucy on the cheek and I see her start to blush a little as he puts an arm around her waist. I start smiling at her reaction, happy to see her having genuine feelings for Kendall and knowing that they have been great for each other ever since we helped set them up. "Keep that up and I might not give you anymore kisses."

"Oh you know you won't stop doing that," Lucy replies sarcastically and Kendall grins at this, both of them knowing she is right. I start smiling at this and look over at James, feeling lucky that I have someone I can be like that with. He starts returning the smile before Carlos sighs dramatically.

I roll my eyes before looking over at him sitting on the couch now, knowing he is not happy about having a girlfriend because of the rest of us being in relationships. "Carlos, you're not the only one single here. Rachel isn't dating anyone." I look over at her and notice that she's looking at the ground before finally looking at me. When she does, there's the faintest hint of pink on her cheeks and I start questioning what is going on with her lately that she hasn't been telling me. Turning back to Carlos, I wonder when Rachel will tell me what's going on and I see him looking not as upset as he usually gets when one of us brings up not being in a relationship. I raise an eyebrow at this before looking over at James who shrugs at me, clearly not picking up on the same things that I am. Before I can respond, there's several knocks on the door and I hold up my hand to James as I start walking over, wanting him to let me answer it. I open the door and start smiling when I see the three Jennifers standing there. "Hey girls, great to see you! Please come in!"

I stand aside and let them walk in. After closing the door, I take a deep breath and turn around to look at everyone in my apartment, knowing everyone is here now and that means having to tell them soon. "Alright everyone is here so let's have dinner."

The guys cheer at this before running over to the table, excited like always to eat food. I roll my eyes at these but start smiling a little at their craziness, knowing I wouldn't want them to be any other way. I start heading over and the other girls do as well, leaving a spot open for me next to James which I appreciate. Everyone starts grabbing food and I try to start eating some, starting to feel anxious about telling everyone, even though I know they will all be okay with it. James seems to notice this as the others talk around us and he grabs my hand and squeezes it. I look over at him and he smiles encouragingly. I smile back at him before turning back to my food, feeling a little better knowing that I have him beside me. And that's the way I always want it to be.

After letting everyone eat for a few minutes, James starts talking and I feel my stomach drop, knowing it is time to tell them. "So thanks everyone for coming to have dinner with us. While we always enjoy spending time with you, getting caught up was not the only reason for inviting you over."

The girls look a bit intrigued by this as James lightly nudges my arm, wanting me to take over telling them. I take a deep breath as I grab the ring out of my pocket and slip it on under the table. I hold my left hand up in front of me, letting them see the rings as I look at them. "James and I are engaged."

There's silence for a few seconds as they take in this news and I start wondering if I shouldn't have told them. I look at all of their faces, trying to figure out what they're thinking as we sit in silence, anxiety starting to creep in. Finally, Camille grabs my hand and pulls it closer to her, almost dragging me out of my chair so she can look at the ring. "Oh my god, that's amazing!"

This seems to break the silence and the Jennifers all start talking at once about planning a wedding and what colors we should have. Rachel immediately joins in with them, clearly not giving me any say in what my wedding will be like because she loves planning out weddings that won't happen. Lucy also starts looking at the ring with Camille and I can see her girly side starting to come out as she looks at the ring. I look over at James and can see him getting overwhelmed by the craziness that is six girls getting excited about talking about a wedding. As I start feeling relaxed again now that they all know, I lean over a whisper to him. "If you need to go outside with the guys, go right ahead." He nods at this and immediately jumps out of his seat, looking a little panicked as he runs to the door. The other guys look at each other before following after him and I laugh at their reactions. I can't really blame them for feeling overwhelmed by all this talk of what type of flowers to have or what style of dress I should wear.

When the door is closed behind them, I turn back to the girls as start getting bombarded with questions. "So when did this happen?" Lucy asks as she takes my hand from Camille to get a better look at the ring.

"Did he ask you in a really cute way?" Camille asks before sighing wistfully at the thought of a proposal.

Blonde Jennifer looks at the other two before speaking for all of them. "We need to take you dress shopping."

"Kleinfeld's is definitely the best place to go," the curly haired Jennifer adds and the third nods her head in agreement.

"Oh we should make a whole trip to New York City!" Rachel says excitedly and the others respond agreeing. I sit back and start to understand how James was starting to feel as they all continue talking excitedly about the plans.

"Are you okay Lauren?" Lucy asks me and the others all stop talking to look over at me.

I take a sip of water as I nod my head at them. "Just feeling a little overwhelmed at all of the questions." I pause as I try to relax a little. "But to answer some of your questions, it happened while we were on vacation, he proposed on the beach when the sun was setting," I pause again as they 'aww' at this. "And I am always up for going to New York."

"This is so exciting!" Rachel says as she claps her hands. "I've always wanted to help plan a wedding and now I get to do it for my best friend!"

I stand up, wanting to go check on James and also take a break from the craziness that is my friends. "Excuse me for a second, I'm going to go check on James." They all nod at this before turning back to talking about my wedding as I head towards the door. I let out a sigh once I'm out of my apartment, feeling like I can finally take a breather.

Kendall laughs at my reaction and I turn to see him, Carlos, and Logan standing to the right of my door. I start frowning when I don't see James with them and they all start pointing towards the elevator as Kendall answers my silent question. "Over there."

I take off walking quickly towards the elevator, not wanting James to be in a full out panic at this. When I round the corner and see him pacing by the elevator, I pause as I see the worried look on his face. He sees me and immediately relaxes before walking over to me and wrapping his arms around me immediately. I do the same and can feel his body start to relax as he holds on to me. "Sorry I had to run off. It just got a little too crazy in there and I started panicking at the idea of getting this wedding together."

"We'll get through it together," I say as I rest my head against his chest, wanting him to feel relaxed and not worry any more. We stay in each other's arms for a few seconds as I think about planning the wedding and start chuckling. He pulls back a little so that he can look at me confused. "Don't worry about planning a wedding, I'm sure Rachel already has most of it planned out."

James starts laughing at this and I feel relieved when I can see him starting to relax. "You're probably right." He pulls me closer again and rests his chin on the top of my head. "But we will handle this together, right?"

"I promise," I reply immediately, knowing that I want to have him involved with all of the planning so that I can have his support and not go crazy. I step back from him, smiling as I take both of his hands and start walking backwards towards my apartment. "Come on, we should probably get back to the dinner party that we're hosting."

He chuckles at this as I let go of one of his hands and turn around to watch where I'm going. "Once again, you're probably right."

I look back at him and can see him starting to get worried again and I squeeze his hand. When he looks down at me, I smile at him before kissing him for a few seconds. We part and he smiles down at me, the worry now gone. "Don't worry about this, James. We'll get through this just like we get through everything. Together."


	27. Chapter 27

**So a little bit of a filler chapter BUT it is a brand new chapter so it won't be too boring! This chapter definitely helps to move the story along and makes more sense for the process of getting to the wedding. Please review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Chapter 27:**

I look around at the poster board filled with pictures that Rachel had put together, impressed by the dedication she has towards helping us plan our wedding. This was the third one she had made, this time presenting us with options of venues we could have the wedding. The other two had been designs for wedding invitations and then color schemes. It had taken over an hour both times to pick something since every time one of us would pick one we like, someone would have an issue with it. But thankfully, once we had the invitations picked, Rachel offered to take care of them for us, fully embracing her role as maid of honor. As for the color scheme, that one still isn't fully decided because James and Rachel started to get in an argument over what colors I look best in, even though I won't even be wearing them. But even if they do get in disagreements about the plans, I'm so grateful to have them involved with this because I would not be able to handle it on my own. And I don't know how some brides have their fiancée completely out of the planning because it's his wedding too. James has been super helpful with this and definitely stopped me from panicking a few times.

Glancing over at him, I see him watching me and waiting for my opinion. I shrug at him and look back at the board. "Point to the one you want on three?" I see him nod his head out of the corner of my eye as I look at the country club I want. It has a gorgeous garden set up in the back that is perfect for the ceremony and then we can have the reception right there. I take a deep breath before counting, hoping he is picturing the same place I am and that we weren't about to have another disagreement about this choice. "One, two, three," I point at my place and let out a sigh of relief when James points to the same picture.

James puts an arm around my waist and pulls me towards him, kissing me on the cheek as Rachel cheers in excitement at the choice. "I really can picture you walking down the aisle and me waiting for you there."

"Me too," I say and smile up at him. He leans down to kiss me sweetly and I enjoy the feeling of his lips against mine, something I hope I never get tired of.

"You know," Rachel says as she starts packing up the pictures. I pull away from James to look at her curiously. She won't stop grinning as she collects her things. "That was my first choice too. When I saw it, I couldn't stop picturing you walking down the aisle and I started crying at the idea of seeing you as a bride."

I move away from James and hold my arms out to my best friend, feeling so grateful to have her helping with this. She holds on to me tightly. "Thank you for everything that you're doing to help out. I know it's part of your job as maid of honor but you're going beyond what I expected you to do."

Rachel pulls back slightly so that she can smile at me. I can see her eyes starting to water and I really hope she's not about to cry because I'll start crying too. And if I show up to our engagement photoshoot with red eyes, I think my uncle might kill me. "You know I've always said I would help plan out your wedding." She releases me and lightly pushes me towards the door and grabs James to do the same. "Now go take some photos together. I'll be here planning and living out my romantic dreams through your wedding."

I'm laughing at this as Rachel pushes us out the door, barely having time to grab my purse and keys from the table by the door. I know she only means well for us since we are short for time before our photoshoot and have to get down to Malibu for it. Once we're in the hallway, I hold out a hand to James and he takes it before we start walking towards the elevator. "So, shall we get going?"

"Definitely," James says as he presses the button for the elevator and smiles down at me while we wait. "So has Gustavo told you anything else about the location we're going to?"

I shrug my shoulders as we step on to the elevator. "Nope," I reply as we start moving down. "Just that it's on a beach in Malibu."

James chuckles at this as we step out into the lobby and begin making our way to the car. As we pass people, I stick my left hand in my pocket, not wanting anyone seeing the ring yet. While I can trust our closest friends that we've told, I'm sure Bitters would jump on this gossip right away and sell the story to the highest bidder. "That's not really helpful," James says and I shrug at him. "There are so many beaches in Malibu."

I pause at my car door to raise an eyebrow at him and he stops at his door across the car to look at me. "Did you really think he would be helpful? This is my uncle we're talking about."

I get in the car as James starts laughing at this and follows my actions. "That's a really good point."

"I know," I say and smirk over at him before starting my car and heading out of the parking lot. James starts fiddling with the radio as I drive towards this place my uncle told us to go to. He eventually sighs at how everyone seems to be talking and puts a cd on. I raise an eyebrow at his choice and quickly glance at him to see him smirking, waiting for my response. "Why did you pick mine?"

As I pull up to a red light, I look over at him once I'm stopped. He takes my right hand as he smirks at me, bringing it up to his lips to kiss the back of it. "Because I like hearing you sing." I start blushing at this as the light changes and I start driving again, trying to focus on the road and not how James still makes me have butterflies in my stomach like he did before we started dating. "Besides, you've made me listen to BTR music way too many times in the car before while you were driving."

I start smiling at this, knowing that he is right. "Guilty as charged," I jokingly say and he laughs. As I continue driving to our mystery location, he sings along to my songs quietly, knowing every word. I sing along absentmindedly with him, paying attention to the road while also just enjoying taking a car ride with him.

When the album gets to Sparks Fly, James turns up the volume and we both sing along loudly, laughing at how each other is singing along to the song and just having fun with it. We get a few weird looks from people in cars near us and I think for a second how weird this situation actually is. I'm singing along to a song I wrote and performed with the guy the song is about. I grab his hand again and hold on to it tightly, feeling lucky once again that I get to call him mine. When the song finishes, James turns down the volume, "You know, it's still kind of hard to believe that we're getting married. I never thought that I would be getting married, let alone at this age."

I squeeze his hand as we pass a sign saying we've entered Malibu. I take a quick glance at him before turning on to the street my uncle told us to go to. "I didn't think that either but I wouldn't want it any other way."

"I really do love you," James says and I start blushing as I look over at him, smiling at him saying that.

"And I really love you too," I respond as I slow down in front of the house number I was told. I raise my eyebrows in surprise at the huge mansion that my uncle and Kelly are standing in front of waiting for us. "Wow."

As I pull to a stop in front of my uncle, I look over at James and see he has the same shocked look on his face. This place is gorgeous and I can't believe that we get to take engagement photos here. "Is this really happening? And why does Gustavo still look like he wants to kill me still?"

I laugh and shrug at this as I get out of the car. He does the same and as I turn to my uncle, I raise an eyebrow at him and he grudgingly relaxes his glare towards James. Kelly smiles at us as James puts his arm around my waist and my uncle looks like he wants to scream. I roll my eyes at this and James' grip tightens around me as he gets nervous about Gustavo. But Kelly elbows Gustavo and he quits glaring at James. "Dogs, I'm still not happy about you being engaged but clearly you won't listen to me. So behind me is the mansion People Magazine has rented for you to take pictures. Don't mess this up. It's a great opportunity to get you out there and seen by lots of people."

"We promise we won't," James tries to reassure Gustavo but he doesn't look entirely convinced about this.

Gustavo stares at us for a minute before turning around and waving over his shoulder for us to follow him. "Come on, let's go get you ready so we can get done with this sooner and I can be done seeing you together." As we walk in the house, I'm overwhelmed by the fancy modern décor, mostly black and white decorations with a few accents of color from roses in vases around the foyer. The place is everything that I would want in my own house and it only makes me more excited to start taking pictures here. As James whistles at the house, a young woman walks up to us and we pause next to my uncle who turns to us and waves a hand at the woman. "Dogs, this is Sherrie. She works at people and will be writing the story that goes with your photos. Don't say anything stupid."

Sherrie holds out her hand to me, smiling as I take it and she shakes it. "Great to meet you two. As soon as they told me I would be covering this story, I was super excited and have been planning out what to ask you." She pauses as she lets go of my hand and shakes James' hand. "My niece is a huge fan of both of you and I've taken her to a few concerts so at this point I'm also a fan."

"Well it's great to meet you and this will be a fun interview," James responds as he flashes that James Diamond smile at her. I can see her start smiling like everyone does when James focuses his entire attention on them. I mean, it certainly had a big effect on me falling in love with him.

My uncle interrupts before Sherrie can respond to James. "Yeah, whatever, just get going with this photoshoot. If you need me, and try not to, I'll be upstairs writing. They have a piano up there so don't do anything to disturb me."

As he walks out of the room, Sherrie looks at us a little discouraged because of my uncle's attitude. "Is he always like that?"

"Yes," Kelly sighs loudly at this before sighing apologetically at Sherrie. "Try to ignore him. That's what I do most of the time."

Sherrie smiles uncertainly at this and I try to reassure her that she hasn't done anything wrong. "So is there somewhere that we need to get ready?"

She immediately perks up at this and I smile to myself at this. "Of course! They're out back waiting for you." She starts walking quickly towards the back of the house, continuing to talk to us excitedly as we follow her. "So the team has some outfits for you to put on and some makeup. I'll ask some questions while you get ready."

We pause as we step outside into a lush garden. A water fountain sits in the middle of so many different types of flowers. Cobblestone paths lead towards some benches to sit at while surrounded by greenery. At the back of the garden, I can see a pathway leading down towards the beach. "This place is amazing," I say quietly as I look around, overwhelmed at this place. James grabs my hand and squeezes it, silently saying that he is feeling the same way.

"It sure is," Sherrie smiles as she starts walking towards our left and that's when I notice the crew set up there. "Now if you want to just come over here, we can get you ready and then take some pictures."

I look over at James and grin at him before going over to the people waiting for us. He laughs at my eagerness as he joins me. I get directed to a makeshift changing room blocked off by curtains as James gets pushed somewhere else. Someone hands me a flowing, light blue dress and I quickly get changed. When I step out, I spot James who is now wearing a matching blue dress shirt and black pants, and I start smiling at how great he looks. I'm about to start talking to him but get stopped by people pulling us over to chairs and sitting us down.

As people start doing our hair, Sherrie pulls over a chair and sits near us, holding a clipboard and a voice recorder. She starts recording and sets it down near us and she clears her throat. I sit and wait for her to start, not minding the feeling of people styling my hair. "Alright, this is Sherrie Devon, interviewing newly engaged Lauren Rocque and James Diamond. So how did you two meet?"

James and I look over at each other and start laughing at the time we met. He nods his head, letting me answer this question. I turn back to Sherrie, trying not to laugh as I tell her. "Well I had just moved in to the Palmwoods and was relaxing by the pool. James and the other guys saw there was a new girl and all came over, each of them determined to date me. James ended up being the successful one."

As I reach over and grab James' hand, he smiles at me before kissing me on the cheek, getting some protests from the people styling his hair. Sherrie smiles lightly at this before continuing with her questions. "Now you mention the other guys, I'm assuming you mean the guys in Big Time Rush?" We nod in confirmation at this. "How do they feel about you two getting married? And James, did you pick one of them to be your best man and if so, how hard was that?"

"They have all been incredibly supportive," James says and I nod my head as the people finish my hair and move on to my makeup. "All of them are happy to see us together."

"Carlos is the most excited since he's best friends with both of us," I add and James chuckles at this.

Sherrie raises an eyebrow at this, silently asking James to elaborate on this. "If Carlos was any more excited about our wedding, you would think that it was his own. And as for picking a best man, it was easy to pick Carlos. We've always been super close so of course I want my buddy to be right there with me."

I'm instructed to close my eyes for the person to continue my makeup and listen to Sherrie continue asking her questions. "So can you give us any details about the wedding? I'm sure I'm not the only one who is wondering who is going to get invitations."

I chuckle as I sit back in my chair. "Well I can't give too much since we haven't figured out all of the details yet. And I think Rachel might disown me as a friend if she ruins the surprise of all of her planning. But I can tell you that we're having it in September, we found a great country club for it this morning, and the colors are going to be red and gold." James raises an eyebrow at this, not realizing that I had decided on a colors. I shrug at him before turning back to Sherrie who is still waiting for me to finish the questions. "As for who is getting invited, it will include all of our friends and family, and possibly some family friends."

"Now you mention family," Sherrie begins and pauses to chuckle. "Family friends for you can mean some pretty big names with your father and mother being huge people in film and your uncle being huge in music. But I want to know how they reacted to this news. And that also includes your family, James."

James looks over at me and I give him a look to speak first, not feeling like getting into my family's reactions just yet. He turns back to Sherrie to answer, giving her his whole attention. As I watch him talk, I can't help but admire the fact that when he does interviews, he is completely focused on it and pays attention to the interviewer. Too many people don't respect the interviewers and it's sad. "Well I don't really talk to my dad too much so I'm not sure if he even knows if I'm dating Lauren. As for my mom," he scoffs at this. "Well, Brooke Diamond is an intimidating business woman. I was terrified to tell her. And her first reaction was anger. Not at me being engaged, but the fact that I hadn't introduced Lauren to her yet. She booked a flight out to see us before even getting off the phone with me."

When James finishes, I realize it's my turn to talk. The makeup artist has finished so I sit up and look at Sherrie. "Well my family had interesting responses. My mom took it well after she got over the shock of it. She was mostly worried that we were rushing in to it. My dad accepted it immediately and he is excited because he really likes James."

"And what about your uncle?" Sherrie asks, noticing that I paused after talking about my parents.

I chuckle as I think about how my uncle reacted. "Well he has always been protective of me. His response was what I expected at first: not happy at all. But even though he won't admit it, I'm sure he's alright with us getting married."

"From the brief meeting with him today, I could see him reacting that way," Sherrie responds and I can tell she's a little afraid of my uncle. She looks down at her clipboard and frowns slightly before looking back at us. "Alright I have one more question for you and then you can go take your photos. Now you both are young, both only 18. Are you worried at all that you might be getting married too young?"

"Absolutely not," James replies immediately. I raise an eyebrow at him sounding so absolute about his response. "I know that I love Lauren more than anything and that I never want to be without her. It wouldn't matter if I was 18 or 32, I would have asked her to marry me."

I can feel my heart start beating faster at his words, still reacting like that when James says sweet things about me. I smile at him as I take his hand, squeezing it as he grins at me. "I love you too, James." I turn back to Sherrie, feeling incredibly lucky to have James by my side. "Everything he said is true for me too. I've never felt anything like how I do for James. They say when you've found the right person, you just know. Well I know that James is the person for me."

Sherrie smiles at this and puts a hand over her heart. I hear her whisper 'aww' before she collects herself, remembering that she's still giving an interview. "Well I can tell that you two are going to have no problem with married life. And I honestly wish you the best of luck." She leans forward and grabs her recorder. She switches it off before smiling at us and standing up. "Thank you so much for giving me the chance to interview you today. I know you probably have these all the time but it really meant a lot for me." She pauses and lets out a breath of relief. "Now, let's get your photos done. It will probably involve a lot of kissing each other."

I chuckle at this as I stand up. James stands up too and quickly puts an arm around my waist and pulls me close to him. He kisses my cheek before jokingly replying, "There are definitely a lot worse photoshoot ideas that I can think off."

* * *

And there sure was a lot of kissing. I laugh lightly to myself as I lean back against James, his arms wrapped around me as we stand in front of the bonfire that the crew put together. Someone suggested we have a bonfire after we finished since we would be ending late and everyone went right along with it. It had been a long day between the interview and photoshoot. I didn't realize it at the time but looking back now, it was exhausting. The photoshoot part had been pretty fun. James and I did get to kiss a lot in various places, like the garden and on the beach. We also just got to goof around with each other and do cute things while pretending the cameras weren't there taking pictures of us. I'm looking forward to seeing how the pictures turn out and Sherrie promised she would send us some prints of them.

Now Sherrie ended up being an interesting and really nice part of the day. I hadn't expected the person interviewing us to be a fan of us. And even now, she's still working on making sure our interview is perfect. I smile as I look across the fire at where Sherrie and Kelly are discussing the details of the magazine. James leans down and rests his head on my shoulder. "What are you smiling about?"

I try to turn to look at him but end up bumping into his nose. He laughs at this before moving his head and turning me around so I was facing him in his arms. As he looks down at me, I continue smiling at the way I can see his love for me in his eyes. "I was thinking about how this day turned out better than I expected. And how I really like Sherrie."

James glances over my shoulder, presumably at Sherrie, before turning back to me. He lightly kisses me before smiling at me. "I really liked her too. Maybe we should make some sort of agreement with People Magazine so that she has to be the one who writes the story covering our wedding. I'm sure there was some part of the contract that includes a wedding story."

I contemplate this as I rest my head against his chest, feeling content in the moment. "We should do that."

"We will, love," he whispers before kissing the top of my head. We stay in each other's embrace for a few minutes, enjoying the few minutes of peace in front of the fire after a day of constantly having to do something. "So you never told me when you picked the color scheme."

I pull away from his chest to look up at him, trying to figure out his emotions to that. I hadn't meant to not include him in the decision but he kept getting in arguments with Rachel about it. And when I was asked about the details, I just had a gut feeling and went with it. "Right before I answered the question. Are you mad?"

James laughs at this and I feel a little relieved as he tightens his arms around me. "Of course not. I was just a little surprised."

"Good," I whisper as I relax in his arms again, knowing this is where I belong. "I can't wait to be married to you."

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	28. Chapter 28

**Alright, here is a brand new chapter and I personally really like how it turned out. It will be the last new one as there are only two chapters left after this one and those a well planned out. If you enjoy this chapter, please review and let me know!**

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 **Chapter 28:**

Glancing back and forth between the door and the magazine sitting on the counter, I pace my apartment anxiously, waiting for things to go terribly. Of course my dad and Brooke Diamond had to pick the same day to come visit. I could probably handle both of them separately but together? I have no idea how they'll react to each other. Hopefully James and I won't have to stop any fights between the two but who knows, they both have very strong personalities. I have no idea what Brooke's going to think of me, all James said was that she was curious to meet the girl who got James Diamond to want to get married.

My eyes flicker back to the magazine. I can see James and I on the cover from where I pace yet I've avoided opening it since Rachel dropped it off yesterday. For some reason I'm anxious about the story being out and people knowing I'm engaged and as a result, I've avoided the story. I've even avoided checking my phone, not wanting to check social media or see the messages I'm surely getting. I scoff as I start thinking about my best friend. She and the guys all made plans to be far from the Palmwoods when they found out the two would be visiting on the same day. They left us to fend off the parents on our own and I'm a little angry at them. It would have been nice to have them nearby in case things do go wrong and we need some help.

I guess I'll look at it now, anything to make the time go by faster since we still have at least twenty minutes before one of them gets here and James is still getting ready in my room. I quickly walk over to the counter and take a deep breath as I pick up the cover and look at it. James and I take up the majority of the space as we smile at each other and look in love. 'NEWLY ENGAGED' it says in large font at the bottom of the image along with 'Look inside for People Magazine's exclusive interview with the couple on page 12!' I flip to the page and immediately start smiling when I see all of the pictures inside. The two pages are mostly filled with pictures and I can't help but feel happy about seeing them. Sherrie had sent us a couple of the images but most of them in the magazine I haven't seen before. And with that, I start reading the interview.

' _Many of you probably recognize the name Rocque as soon as you read it. You might think about Dave Rocque, the producer who has brought us so many of our favorite movies. Perhaps you think about Scarlet Rocque, the beautiful actress who makes us feel all of the emotions that the character is feeling. Or maybe you think about Gustavo Rocque and relive some of your childhood as you can hear in your head the boy band hits you always listened to. But those three are not who I'm concerned about today. The Rocque that I think of is Lauren Rocque. Now I'll admit, I'm a fan of the upcoming star. She captivated audiences with her role as Glimmer in The Hunger Games and now does the same with her self-titled album. An album that, you guessed it, is produced by her uncle Gustavo Rocque. You would have to be living under a rock for the past two years to not have heard the name of Gustavo's other project, Big Time Rush. Four guys that can sing and dance, and are the loves of teenagers around the world. James Diamond is known for being the pretty one in the group but he also brings an amazing voice to the group. Never one to be a serious dater, everything changed when these two met.'_

' _Now when I first met these two, I could tell immediately that they are truly in love and it's not just a fling. You can see it in her eyes as she watches him laugh or the way he looks at her like she is the only girl in the world. It seems only natural that they are going to be married and anyone that has met the two will tell you the same thing: their marriage will last. Now, let's move on to the interview with the newly engaged couple to learn a little about how they met, who will be the best man, and a few other wedding details.'_

As I skip over the questions, I smile at the kind words that Sherrie wrote about us. It's nice to see that she was genuine when she was talking to us. And the things she described about us, I've never realized people notice that about us. I sit down at the counter to read the final part of our story.

' _So there you have it. A look at James and Lauren's relationship and some details about their wedding. The two of them were so genuine during the interview and made sure they put their full attention on me. Any rumors you hear about these two being rude to people or fans, completely ignore them because there is no truth there. These two are so in love with each other and I wish them all the best as they start this new chapter of their life as a married couple.'_

Setting the magazine down on the counter, I smile as I look up at the front door, feeling a little relaxed for the first time all day. The article about us was great and relaxed all of my concerns about the public finding out. Sherrie gave us such a great story and I just hope the public thinks the same thing.

A loud bang makes me jump and look over to my room in shock as James runs out. His hair is all over the place and he looks like he might have a panic attack as he runs over to me. I immediately jump up and move over to him, grabbing his hands to try to get him relaxed. "James, stop panicking. Everything is going to go fine."

"You don't understand what my mom is like," he says in a hushed voice as he looks over at the door as if he thinks his mom is about to enter.

"You're right, I don't," I say and can see him start worrying more. I start smoothing out his hair and smile at him. "But from what you've told me, I think she's just a little protective of her only son and wants the best for him. Once she realizes that you've thought marriage through, she will accept it and be fine."

James takes a deep breath and looks like he's starting to relax before there's a knock on the door. He screams and hides behind me. I shake my head at him over reacting before walking over to the door, leaving him standing there. I look through the peephole to figure out who arrived first and start smiling when I see the person. I throw open the door and rush out to hug my father. "Hi dad!"

He starts laughing as he immediately starts hugging me tightly and picks me up a little. "Hi sweetheart! I'm so happy to see you!" He sets me down and smiles at me before looking over my shoulder and starts grinning. "James! There you are!"

I let go of my dad as James starts walking over, smiling at my dad. "Good to see you again, Mr. Rocque."

My dad claps him on the back and I can't help but smile at how well they get along. "Please just call me Dave. You're going to be part of the family soon, no point being all formal."

"Alright, Dave," James says tentatively as he smiles at his soon to be father-in-law. "Well come inside." My dad listens to him and puts an arm around my shoulders as he starts walking in. James gives a worried look out in the hallway before closing the door and joining us at the table.

"So, when are you kids getting married?" my dad says lightly as I hand him a glass of water.

I roll my eyes at him before responding, feeling relaxed now that he's here. "Dad, we're adults," he scoffs at this like he doesn't really think of me as being anything other than his little girl and I ignore it. James on the other hand looks terrified as he sits there, nervously tapping his fingers against the table. "And the wedding is planned for-" I cut off and jump as there's a knock on the door and James screams. My dad looks at me concerned before I give James a shove. He hesitantly gets up and looks at the door in a panic. "James, go answer the door."

James hesitantly listens to me and walks over slowly as his mother keeps knocking. I start wondering if I should be worried too about meeting her. He turns to look at me as he reaches the door and I give him a look, telling him to open it already. I look over at my dad briefly and see an amused look on his face before getting serious. I wonder if he's aware of who exactly he's meeting but before I can question him, James has the door open and I see his mom smiling at him. And I instantly realize why he is so terrified of her because she looks like a smart business woman who will do whatever it takes to be successful. "James, sweetheart, come give your mother a hug."

He listens to her and I can see that he is still tense as he hugs her. "It's great to see you, mom," he says sincerely and I'm reminded that even though his mother is strict, he really does love her since she raised him on her own.

Brooke Diamond lets go of him and smiles before trying to look over James. "Now where is this girl that has made James Diamond want to get married?" She sees me and I start walking over, knowing I can't put this off forever. "Ah, there she is."

I reach Brooke and hold out a hand to her. "It's nice to finally meet you," I say politely as she stares at me for a few seconds. I start questioning if I somehow did something wrong and quickly look over at James for help but Brooke finally takes my hand.

"Yes, yes it is," she says quietly and I still don't know if she has approved of me or not. My parents always claimed they could tell if they would like the person I'm dating within a minute of meeting them and I figured it was the same for everyone. After what seems like a while but was probably less than a minute, she turns to James and smiles at him. "Well I can definitely see why you would want to date her, she's pretty just like her mother."

"I would agree with that," my dad speaks up from behind us and I can hear him walking towards us as Brooke raises an eyebrow, not aware he was here. She steps past us into the apartment and approaches my dad and I start getting worried about how they would react to each other. They both have very strong personalities and it's very possible that they will clash. My dad stops in front of her, not offering a hand to shake and I try to figure out what he's feeling but is face is blank. "Brooke Diamond. I've heard a lot about you."

Brooke looks up at him, my dad towering over her short stature yet she is standing as confidently as if she was at eye level with him. "Likewise, Dave Rocque."

I grab James' hand and squeeze it nervously as our two parents stare each other down, not sure how this will end. It would be nice to be able to include both sides of our family at parties in the future without fighting. And from the way James tightly grips my hand, I can tell he's just as worried as I am.

My dad is the first one to speak up after a minute of them sizing each other up. But it's clear he isn't done with that as he starts asking her rapid questions. "How long have you owned your business?"

"Sixteen years," she replies calmly as James and I move towards the kitchen, wanting to be closer in case something goes wrong and we need to split up a fight.

"Number of stores you own?" my dad asks and I can tell by looking at his face that he knew the answers but wants to hear how she tells her success.

Brooke smirks before answering him, clearly proud of the number. "Fifty-two stores across the country."

My dad raises an eyebrow at her as he asks his next question. "How many times has your business gone bankrupt?"

James makes a high pitched screech next to me after this question and I look at his face confused. He shakes his head lightly at me as he looks at his mother worried. I turn back to Brooke and can see her pursing her lips, clearly not happy with the question because it's not about her success. Yet she still answers it. "Once, in the first two years after I started the business."

My dad nods his head, happy that she gave an honest answer. He has always appreciated people being honest to him, even when they were admitting to a failure. I had learned that lesson many times when I was younger and broke something. "How many times has Scarlet modeled for your products?"

Brooke smirks at my dad as she crosses her arms at him. "None, but I can change that." My dad barely smiles at this before going back to an emotionless face. He nods curtly at her, letting her know that he is done with his questions and she can start asking hers. "How many films have you directed?"

"Twenty-four," he says proudly and even I start smiling at this. He's worked so hard over the years to get to that point and devotes everything to each movie he is working on, regardless if it's an indie movie or a big summer blockbuster movie.

I see the faintest hint of her being impressed before she asks her next question. "And how many of those were considered flops?"

He seems to have known that this question was coming, especially after asking Brooke about her failures, and doesn't seemed to fazed by it. "Two," he says calmly although I know he was not very calm when those two movies first premiered. The first was when I was five and I remember him spending half a year on the action movie and despite the big budget and hype about it, it just wasn't the right time for that movie sequel. And the other, well that happened only three years ago and I have never seen him work harder than he has after that, trying to prove himself again.

"Of your twenty-four movies, how many Best Director Oscar nominations have you received?" Brooke asks and I start smiling at this question, knowing his nominations and wins were his biggest accomplishments.

"Seven," he replies happily and holds up a hand to stop Brooke before she asks him another question. "And I know what your next question is. The answer is I've won five of them." My dad waits expectantly for her to have another question but she only nods her head at him before smiling approvingly. He offers his hand to her and she takes it right away. "Pleasure to meet you, Brooke Diamond."

"Same to you, Dave Rocque. And I'm looking forward to considering you part of the family," Brooke says with a smile as she shakes his hand and my dad smiles back at her.

I let out a sigh of relief as the two have finally accepted each other and can feel James' tight grip on my hand relax. The two parents look over at us and my dad starts chuckling at us. "Why are you kids so tense? Did you really think we wouldn't get along?"

I shrug at this and can see Brooke start smiling a little at us. "I wasn't sure. You both have such similar personalities that I didn't know if you would get along or crash."

"Oh no, sweetheart," Brooke replies as the two walk over towards us. "Anyone that has been as successful as your father I will respect immediately. I understand how hard it is to get to that point in order to follow your dreams." She looks over at James and lightly sighs before reaching for his hair. "Stop worrying, dear. Your hair is a mess and if you keep that up, you'll be gray before you're thirty."

James screams at this and I roll my eyes as I hug my dad, still just happy to see him again. "Well now that we got the awkward introductions out of the way, do you two want to hear about the wedding?"

My dad immediately smiles down at me. "Of course." He pauses and looks around at the apartment, suddenly realizing that we are missing a person. "Where's Rachel? I figured she would be here since she probably has your entire wedding planned out already."

I laugh at this as I lead my dad over to the dining room table, keeping an arm around him. James and Brooke follow closely behind us. "Oh she has it all planned out," I respond as I sit down at the table and my dad sits across from me. James sits next to me and Brooke next to my dad. "But she didn't know how you two would react to each other so she and the guys took a trip to the beach."

"Well that's disappointing," Brooke says and I look at her curiously. She shrugs as she continues, "I haven't seen the other boys in a while and it would have been nice to see them today."

"I can tell them to come home sooner," James responds to his mother quickly, wanting to keep her happy. He already has his phone out as he waits for his mother to respond, and as soon as she nods her head at him, he starts typing away.

I turn back to my dad as James finishes texting the guys and Rachel and he puts his arm around me. I look at the two parents, happy to know that both families will be okay with the marriage. "So you two better be free September 17th."

"Of course I'll be there," Brooke responds immediately and smiles at James. "I could never miss my baby boy getting married."

I wish I could be more excited about her enthusiasm for the wedding but I can't look away from my dad who is frowning a little. "Dad, don't you dare say work is going to get in the way and you won't be able to make it."

He sighs as he looks at me. "It will be tough, but I will make sure I'm there. I'll be in the middle of filming for the next Marvel movie." He notices me starting to get upset about this and reaches across the table to take my hand. "Don't worry, I will be there. They can survive a day or two without me there. I won't miss my daughter's wedding."

"Good," I say, starting to relax and smiling at him as he squeezes my hand. "What about mom? Do you know what she will be working on then?"

My dad starts to chuckle at this. "Well, don't let anyone know about this, but she's actually the main villain in that movie. We haven't announced it yet so please don't let that news get out or the studio might have my head."

James speaks up at this. "But if she's part of the same movie, won't she have a problem getting to the wedding too?"

"Not if I purposely schedule her scenes so that she is free that week," my dad smiles mischievously at this and I can't help but laugh a little at how he is so in control of the project and can do things like that.

"Isn't a villain character unusual for Scarlet?" Brooke asks and I raise an eyebrow at her knowing this information about my mom. And it is true, she usually goes for the strong female protagonists that are independent since she's a big feminist. She always told me that whatever I do, try to be a role model for people and she always followed her own words.

"It is," my father agrees as he looks at Brooke. "But she wanted to try something different and this character is very well written. The studio was a little unsure about it at first, thinking I was being partial to my wife but after seeing her auditions, they knew she was the perfect choice."

I start smiling at this as I lean back in my chair. My dad always got so enthusiastic when talking about my mom and you can tell how in love they still are with each other. I look over at James and he smiles down at me, and I just hope that we will always be like them.

My dad clears his throat and I look back over at him. "Enough talking about us old people, let's hear more about this wedding."

"Well what do you want to know?" James asks the two of them and I can see them start thinking of things to ask.

Brooke is the first one to speak up. "Well let me have a look at the ring already," she says and I hold out my left hand across the table for her to inspect. After a few seconds, she looks up at James and smiles approvingly. "Good choice."

James is practically beaming with the approval and I can tell that praise is not something his mother gives away very often. Brooke smiles at her son before turning back to me. "And what about your dress? Have you gone shopping yet?"

I shake my head at this before responding to her. "No but I'm taking a trip to New York in a couple weeks to look with some of my close friends." I glance over at my dad and can see him starting to get a little upset. "What's wrong?"

He shakes his head at me. "Nothing, dear. It's just all this talk about a wedding is making it very real that my little girl is all grown up and getting married."

I immediately get up and go around the table to hug him tightly. "Dad, you know I couldn't stay a little girl forever."

"I know," he responds as he holds on to me tightly. He starts laughing a little and I pull back enough to look at his face. "Do you remember when you were younger and you and Rachel would act out weddings?"

"Of course," I respond and start smiling at the memories.

"Well I just remembered how Rachel would always talk about planning your weddings in the future. It's crazy to think that after all these years, it's finally happening." He pauses as he smiles at me. "And even after all these years, I get to walk you down the aisle. Except this time, it's for real."

"Well I'm excited for it to be real this time," I smile at him as he lets go of me, clearly past his brief moment of sadness. But I'm sure it will happen again before my wedding happens. Parents probably always are sad to see their children get married.

The front door opens and before I can even look up, I hear Rachel screaming as she runs over to us. "Dave!" She yells before knocking me out of the way to hug my dad. He laughs as he hugs her back.

I raise an eyebrow as the other guys walk in the apartment, not expecting them to be back so soon. Kendall shrugs at me as Brooke walks over to them. "We hadn't made it to the beach yet because Carlos wanted to stop to get corndogs for lunch."

I nod as Brooke starts hugging the guys and turn back to Rachel and my dad. Rachel has already started talking excitedly to him about how much she missed him and life. He is smiling and laughing already, still thinking of her as a daughter. Rachel looks over at me as gasps in excitement before turning back to my dad who has an eyebrow raised at her actions but won't ever say anything about it. "Oh I can't wait to tell you all about the wedding!"

"Oh I figured you would," my dad responds happily as Rachel sits down next to him. I shake my head at how crazy my best friend is but I wouldn't want her any other way.

I walk back over to my spot and notice James is looking a little stressed out about hearing Rachel and my dad talking about the wedding excitedly. I take his hand briefly and squeeze it before nodding my head over to the guys and his mother who are all talking to each other. "Go talk to them and spend time with Brooke." He nods his head thankfully before getting up to talk to his best friends and mom. I turn back to Rachel and my dad, listening to them talk about the wedding venue and how Rachel has planned to arrange the flowers. And even though my dad probably doesn't know the difference between the types of flowers she has listed off, he still pays close attention and follows along, giving her his full attention. I start smiling at this, happy that my father is the type who will pay attention to everyone talking to him, regardless if he is interested in the topic.

I glance over at the others and see Carlos excitedly talking to Brooke about something who has an amused look on her face. James is finally starting to relax now that everyone is talking and getting along with each other. Kendall and Logan still look a little afraid of Brooke, particularly Logan, but that's probably from growing up around her and seeing how scary she can be.

As I sit back and listen to Rachel and my dad talk about the wedding, and the guys talking to Brooke, I can't help but smile. Everyone is getting along with each other and it's how I want my future to continue to be. One big family.


	29. Chapter 29

This is the second to last chapter of the story and it is sad to see it coming to a close. But it's not over yet, so read this chapter and then the final chapter! Please review and let me know what you think!

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 **Chapter 29:**

"I'm going to miss you," I say as I hold on tightly to James. He returns the hug, holding on to me just as tightly. Behind me is the entourage of girls I'm bringing to New York with me and behind him I know are the guys, sitting in the car and waiting for James so they can head back to the Palmwoods.

"I'm going to miss you too," James replies as he kisses the top of my head. "But it's just for a long weekend. You're going to have so much fun in New York and will be coming back with a wedding dress."

"Assuming everything goes well," I respond as I step back from him. "Dress shopping might be a nightmare with opinions coming from six different people."

James chuckles at this as Rachel clears her throat. We look back at her and I can tell she feels bad for interrupting our moment. "Lauren, we have to get going."

I sigh as I hug James one last time. As I pull away from him, I smile up at him. "Have fun and try not to burn down my apartment."

"I'll try my best but no guarantees about the others," James says with a chuckle before kissing me. "You go have a fun weekend in New York and don't let the others influence your dress decision too much. It is your wedding, not theirs. And I love you."

"I love you too," I respond happily before he turns to head to the car. He pauses at the door to turn around and wave at me before getting in. The door closes and I watch the car drive away before taking a deep breath and turning around to face Rachel, Camille, Lucy, and the Jennifers. They're all waiting expectantly for me and I smile at them. "Alright, let's go have a fun weekend in New York."

The girls start talking excitedly as we walk inside the airport and I half listen to them as we go to the security check-in. I end up walking with Rachel since she isn't part of the dress talk and is more worried about making sure we follow our schedule for the weekend. She's looking down at her phone as we get close to the security. "Okay so when we get there, we won't have time to do much besides grab dinner. Maybe if we're not too tired we can go to a club but I advise not to since your appointment at Kleinfeld's is early tomorrow morning." She pauses as we hand over our passports and tickets before going through the security scans. Once we're through and waiting for the others, she resumes talking about our schedule. "Hopefully you find your wedding dress tomorrow and then hopefully we can also find our bridesmaid dresses this weekend. I did arrange to have another appointment on Sunday for us to pick out dresses at Kleinfeld's."

"And then we fly out Sunday night?" I ask as we wait for the girls to finish going through security.

"Correct," Rachel replies as everyone joins us. "Alright, ladies, we have an hour before our flight leaves. We're at gate 23D so please make sure you're there on time."

Everyone nods in understanding before splitting up into groups. The Jennifers immediately go off to look at the luxury shops. Lucy and Camille go towards the food. I can see Rachel shake her head and look exhausted before she heads over to the gate. As I make my way towards Starbucks, I start wondering if Rachel is working too hard on planning this wedding. She's been doing all of this while also taking modeling jobs and it has to be taking a toll on her. As I order my coffee, I make the decision to offer to take over more of the things. She probably won't take the offer and insist she's fine, but at least I can feel better about it.

Once I have my coffee, I head over to some of the shops, scanning over the many magazines in hopes of finding something to read on the plane. On most of the celebrity magazines, I see myself and James featured somewhere on the cover. I sigh at this, knowing that this would happen since everyone wants to make a profit off of the story since they didn't get the initial story. I ignore them since most of them are just people putting in their two cents about us getting married young and I don't really feel like reading other people say that what we're doing is wrong. They don't know us personally so why should I listen to their opinion? I believe what we're doing is the right choice.

I do eventually spot a magazine about wedding planning and decide to buy it because who knows, it might have some useful tips. I go to the cashier to pay for it, getting few weird looks from him as he tries to figure out how he knows me. I quickly pay and walk away before he can say anything, not feeling like dealing with a fan encounter right now. As I make my way to our gate, I skim through the magazine and look at all of the pictures of wedding dresses, starting to feel anxious about going shopping tomorrow. What if I don't end up finding a dress? Then everyone would have made this trip with me for nothing.

I sigh as I sit down at the gate and throw the magazine down on the chair next to mine. Maybe the magazine was a bad idea. I put my face in my hands and try to relax. After a couple minutes, I jump when Camille starts talking to me. "Trying to get some extra ideas?"

"Huh?" I say to her, confused about what she's talking about as I look up at her and Lucy. They point over at the magazine. "Oh, I thought it would help but it ended up just stressing me out. What if I don't find a dress today?"

"Then you don't find a dress," Lucy says and Camille nods her head in agreement. "If they don't have a dress that you think is right for you, then we find somewhere else for you to shop."

I start to feel a bit more relaxed as I realize they're right. Before I can respond to them, an announcement is made that our flight is starting to board. I look around and see Rachel and the Jennifers heading towards us from different directions. Once they're by us, I look at them before smiling. "Ready to go have some fun?"

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"This is exactly what I was worried would happen," I say disappointed as I look around at the many dresses that are hanging in the room. I had tried on so many and none of them felt right.

I look over at Brenda, the sales associate who was helping me today. She looks deep in thought as she tries to help me out. "Maybe we're not looking at the right style?" She pauses as I give her a confused look. "You've been trying on all ballgown styles."

"Yeah but that's the style I've always thought I would wear on my wedding day," I responds, feeling disheartened about this whole process.

"That is why you haven't found your dress yet," she answers me and I raise an eyebrow at how bold she's being. She quickly continues, trying to explain herself. "The worst mistake you can make when buying a wedding dress is to be stuck in a mindset where you want one style. Come on," she says and stands up, motioning me to follow her. "Let's go look at some other styles."

I sigh as I get up and follow her out of the room and back to the main floor that has dresses out on display. Maybe she was right about the style not being for me. But I really did like how poofy the ballgown dresses are. As we walk around, she pauses and grabs dresses from the three other styles I have yet to try on. I let her do this without much comments, trusting that she has experience that will help me out. As we're about ready to head back to the dressing room, I stop in my tracks as I look at one of the mannequins. "I didn't know you could do that with wedding dresses," I say quietly to myself.

Brenda chuckles as she walks over to mannequin wearing the two-piece wedding dress. The top is a simple, made of satin with a higher neckline and the length of most crop tops. The high waisted skirt is made out of a softer fabric and in flowy pieces that give it that volume I liked from the ballgowns. "That's a newer trend we're seeing with younger brides," she says and looks at me when she mentions the age. She starts smiling as I keep looking at the dress, feeling different about this dress than I have about any of the others. "I'll grab this one for you. Go head back to the dressing room and I'll be there in five minutes."

I nod my head and listen to her, heading back to the dressing room. I sit impatiently, wanting to try on that dress. As soon as the door opens, I jump up and Brenda laughs lightly at me. "I take it you want to try that one on before any of the others." I nod at this and she smiles knowingly. "Very well."

She helps me into the dress and once it's on, I turn to look at the mirror and I don't know what to say. It looks so perfect on me and as I look at my reflection, I can picture myself walking down the aisle towards James. I guess this is what people meant when they say you just know when you've found your dress. Brenda hands me a tissue and that's when I realize I've started crying. I laugh a little as I wipe away my tears. "They're happy tears, I promise."

"Good," Brenda says happily and I can tell that she honestly cares about each client that comes through and wants them to leave happy. "So is this the dress?"

I look over at her, grinning as I nod my head and can feel more tears starting to fall. "This is my dress."

Brenda claps her hands excitedly before hugging me. "I'm so happy we found your dress. Now let's go show the others."

I nod in agreement and she leads me out of the dressing room and to the main floor where my friends are waiting for me. I'm grinning as soon as I can see the back of their heads. Lucy is the first one to notice me and her mouth drops open in shock when she sees me. "Oh my god…"

Her reaction is enough to cause the others to all turn around and look at me. They're all silent as I step up on the pedestal in front and turn to face them. I raise my eyebrows at them expectantly as I put my hands on my hips, still grinning about how much I love this dress. "So what do you think?"

Rachel is the first one to react and as she gets up and walks over to me, I can see tears in her eyes. She takes both of my hands and as she looks at me and starts crying, I can feel my eyes starting to water again. "I think you look absolutely beautiful and you are an amazing bride."

I immediately hug her, feeling so grateful to have her here with me for this important part of my life. "Thank you for everything you're doing with this wedding," I say before I step back from her.

"I would do it again in a heartbeat for you," she smiles at me before stepping back so that the others can look at the dress more. "Now let's hear what you think."

The others all start talking at once and I tune them out before I get overwhelmed by five people talking at once. And it's mostly the same thing, like how I look gorgeous or how that dress is perfect. I'm relieved when I see Brenda walking over – I'm not even sure when she left – with a man that I recognize from nights when I binge watched Say Yes To The Dress.

"Oh, you look so beautiful," Randy says to me as he grabs my hands. "Now Brenda tells me that you think this is your dress but I want to make sure it is so I'm going to add a few things to you." Brenda passes him a veil and some jewelry and I let him put it on me. Then he turns me towards the mirror and I'm left speechless.

It's hard to believe that the girl in the mirror is me because she looks as if she's about to walk down the aisle. As I look at my reflection, I once again start picturing wearing this dress on my wedding day and the tears come again. I wipe them away as I smile at my friends in the mirror before turning towards Randy and Brenda. "This is my dress."

* * *

After over one hour of listening to Rachel, Camille, and Lucy argue over a bridesmaid dress, I was starting to get envious of the Jennifers out shopping in New York while I sat here. I groan as I put my face in my hands, listening to Lucy get angry again. "I'm not wearing a dress with that many ruffles. You're lucky I'm even going to wear a dress!"

"Oh and you're such an expert on dresses that you know what will be good for us, right?" Camille replies sarcastically as she crosses her arms. I have to admit, the dress she has on does have a lot of ruffles.

"I should just get one of my fashion designer friends to make us dresses," Rachel says wistfully and I roll my eyes at this.

The three continue bickering with each other and I look over at the poor sales associate that got put with us today. She didn't have a chance with these three. I finally stand and throw my hands up exasperated. "I don't care anymore what dress you pick! Pick different dresses or pick the same, I don't care! Just make sure it's the right color!"

I walk away from them angrily, needing to get away from them. I don't understand why it's so hard for them to make a decision on one dress. Besides, no one is going to be focusing on their dresses because everyone only cares about what the bride is wearing. I start walking among the dresses, happy to have some quiet before I stop and lean against a wall. I close my eyes and sigh. I didn't expect planning a wedding to get this stressful.

"Hey Lauren?" I hear Rachel say gently and I keep my eyes closed, wanting to avoid dealing with them for a couple more minutes. "I'm sorry that we were arguing. We started to forget that this is your wedding and we should try to cooperate as much as possible." I open my eyes at this point and raise an eyebrow at her. "Please come back. We promise we'll be better."

"You better or else I'm leaving," I respond and I can see her cheer up a little now that she knows I'm not completely angry at her anymore. I follow her back towards the room we have and find Lucy and Camille have tried on new dresses and are trying not to yell at each other about their choices.

I sit back on the couch and watch them try to calmly discuss the choices for my sake and I start feeling relieved that they're not yelling anymore. I tune them out as I pull out my phone and start browsing through twitter. I had been avoiding it as much as possible lately, not liking the few people who just aren't happy that I'm marrying James for some reason. But right now, I need something to take my mind away from dress shopping. I smile when I see tweets from the guys last night about having an intense movie marathon. Part of me wishes I could have been there with them but I am happy that I found my dress yesterday.

But that only keeps me preoccupied for so long and eventually I toss my phone to the side. I sigh as I look up and see the three girls looking at me expectantly. "What?"

"So Lauren," Rachel starts and I can tell by her tone that I'm probably not going to like what she says next. "We might have been able to find a dress that both Lucy and Camille agree on," she pauses as she waves at the two girls and I notice that they're wearing the same dress. I take in the simple red, strapless, floor length gown. The only embellishment that it has is some beading where it cinches at their waists. "But I really like this one," Rachel continues and waves at the gold dress she has on. It has a sweetheart neckline like the other one but unlike them, it has a sheer piece that goes up to her neck. There isn't any beading on it but it has a similar shape to the others and is also floor length.

"I do like them both," I say after a minute of looking at the dresses. I can see them starting to look relieved that I haven't completely turned them down. "So what about them?"

"How would you feel about me wearing this one and they have that one?" Rachel asks and when she sees me starting to protest, she holds up her hands to stop me so she can finish explaining. "I am going to be the maid of honor and it isn't unusual for the girls in my role to have a different dress than the others. Also, the colors are still in your color scheme."

I sit back, still wanting to argue with them since I'm still a little frustrated from earlier. But her logic makes so much sense and the dresses do look great on them. They wait patiently as I decide and I finally give in, part of me just not wanting to sit there anymore. "Fine, you girls can get the two different dresses. Anything to be done with this."

They start cheering in excitement and I shake my head at them as my phone starts ringing. I start smiling when I hear Confetti Falling and know who's calling. I stand up and start walking out. "I'll be back in a few minutes, take care of paying for your dresses," I say to Rachel and she nods her head as I pick up my phone. "Hi James."

"Hello love, how are you doing?" James asks immediately and I smile at him calling me love.

I lean against a wall outside of the dressing room area and respond to him. "Honestly? A little stressed. Dress shopping is not as easy as you would think." I sigh and shake my head as I think about how long it took for them to pick bridesmaid dresses. "But we finally got dresses pick for the girls and I found mine yesterday so I would say it's been a successful trip."

"Well I'm looking forward to seeing them," he says happily and I smile at the thought of him seeing my dress.

"You're going to love it," I say softly, still picturing in my head how he will react. "But enough about me, how has your weekend with the guys been?"

I hear some yelling in the background and can tell that the guys are nearby playing video games. There's a loud thud and then James chuckles as I start worrying about if my apartment was going to be destroyed by time I got back. "It's been a lot of fun. We've all been so busy lately so it's nice to have some time to just relax with the guys."

"I can understand that," I reply as I think about how busy Gustavo has kept us lately. He's been getting pressured by Griffin to have a good amount of songs recorded before our wedding since Griffin thinks we won't want to do anything for months after the wedding. Which isn't really true, but it's impossible to convince Griffin otherwise. "I wish I was relaxing with you at home."

"So do I," he replies sadly and I start frowning at this. "But I promise we will spend some time together soon, just the two of us."

"I look forward to it," I reply smiling as I see the Jennifers starting to walk towards me, arms full of shopping bags from designer stores. I turn around and look back in the room to find the others talking to the sales associate and getting ready to pay. "I should probably get going. I think we're almost done here."

"That's fine. I just wanted to hear your voice for a couple minutes," James answers and I can feel my cheeks heating up at his words. He still manages to have that effect on me. "Well go have fun with your friends and I'll see you later tonight. I love you."

"I love you too, James," I reply before hanging up the phone. I sigh as I put my phone in my pocket, missing him even though it's almost been a couple days. The Jennifers stop in front of me and I look at them curiously as the blonde one holds out a bag with the name Jimmy Choo out to me. "What's this?" I ask them as I take the bag from them, recognizing the name as being only the biggest shoe designer in the world.

"It's a little bit of a wedding gift from the three of us," the brunette Jennifer answers as I look in the bag and see the shoe box inside. Did they really buy me Jimmy Choo shoes?

"Go on," the third says encouragingly. I take the box out of the bag as they watch me expectantly. When I open it, I see the most gorgeous pair of red pumps inside.

"We know you haven't bought shoes yet to wear with your dress," the blonde Jennifer adds as I carefully take one out of the box and inspect it closer. The color fades from red into a gold at the toe and it's so subtly done.

"It's perfect," I say quietly and put the shoe back carefully. I set the bag down and hug each of them immediately. "Thank you. I will definitely wear them."

I smile at them, wondering how I got lucky enough to have them consider me their friend. I've never seen them act the way they do to me with any other person. And buying me the shoes to wear for my wedding is a big deal and something I won't forget about.

Rachel, Camille, and Lucy join us then, smiling and laughing about something related to dress shopping. I'm happy to see that they are done arguing with each other and back to normal. "So what now, Lauren?" Rachel asks me and the rest of them look at me expectantly.

I smile as I loop my arm through Rachel's. "Now we head home and get ready to have a wedding."

7


	30. Chapter 30

**Well here we are. The last chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 30:**

"How are you feeling, Lauren?" Rachel asks me as she continues adjusting things about my appearance, claiming she wants to make sure I look perfect. But at this point, we both know I look perfect. She's just trying to do something to keep us preoccupied as we wait for the ceremony to start.

I sit there for a minute, trying to process everything I'm feeling and put it in to words. My stomach has been in knots all morning and I have no idea why. "I don't know, there are so many things I'm feeling. Happy to be marrying James. A small irrational part of me is worried we are too young and rushing in to this. And I'm also looking forward to not dealing with the stress of planning a wedding."

Rachel sighs at this and spins the chair I'm in around so that I have to look at her. She puts her hands on the armrests, effectively trapping me there as she moves closer and makes sure I'm paying attention to her. "Lauren, everything is going to be fine. Don't you dare think this wedding isn't right. I've never seen two people more in love than you and James. You have absolutely no reason to be worried." She pauses and looks at me expectantly. I take a deep breath and try to calm myself down before nodding in agreement with her, knowing she's right. It's only after my confirmation that she was right that she takes a step back, smiling as she takes in my appearance. "Well, I've been trying for a half hour now to make sure you look perfect so I suppose you're ready."

"She's definitely ready," someone says from the door and we immediately look over at the person. I start grinning when I see my mom standing there and get up to go hug her. When she sees my full appearance, she covers her mouth and I can see tears starting to form. She grabs both of my hands when I reach her and holds them tightly as she tries not to cry. "Oh honey, you are such a beautiful bride."

"I'm so happy you're here," I whisper to her as I try to keep my own tears controlled while watching her. I look over her shoulder before turning back to her expectantly. "Where's dad?" She immediately sighs and the look on her face is enough to tell me that my worst fears came true with my parents. I start shaking my head, feeling like tears are definitely going to happen. "No, no, no, mom, please tell me this isn't happening."

She pulls me towards her immediately in a tight embrace, rubbing my back comfortingly as I try to hold back my tears so I don't ruin the makeup. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart, but he can't make the ceremony. He tried to do everything he could and was going to make it, but there was an accident on set yesterday and the studio needs to make sure it won't happen again."

"It's not fair," I mumble against her shoulder as I cling to her. I just wanted my dad to walk me down the aisle and now that's never going to happen.

"You're right, it isn't," she says, trying to comfort me. "But he wouldn't want you being upset about him not making the ceremony. He knows how excited you are about the wedding and would hate to be the reason you don't fully enjoy it."

I take a deep breath, trying to steady myself as she moves back. She holds on to my shoulders and I meet her gaze. "But who is going to walk me down the aisle now?"

She looks unsure for a second before she squeezes my shoulders comfortingly. "I don't know but I'll figure it out. Hell, I'll even walk you if I have to."

I slightly smile at her and whisper as there's a knock on the door. "Thank you, mom."

"You're welcome." She sighs a little as the door opens and Kendall pokes his head in. "You have grown into such a beautiful woman." She turns to look at the door now that it's fully open and sees Kendall and Logan there. "Ah, hello again boys. I would stay and chat but I have to fix problems."

My mom gives them both a pat on the back as she walks out, pausing as she closes the door to smile reassuringly at me. I turn towards the two guys and see them grinning at me. Kendall grabs me in a hug right away. "Wow, Lauren, you look so beautiful."

Logan hugs me soon after Kendall lets go, a crooked grin on his face as he looks at me. "James sure is a lucky guy to be marrying you."

I smile at his comment as I sit down by the mirror, fidgeting with my hands as I start getting nervous again. Finding out that my dad isn't going to be here is almost depressing and I've had to fight back tears, knowing he wouldn't want that to ruin my wedding. I look back up at them, taking in how nice they look all dressed up in tuxes and start wondering how James will look in his. "Thank you," I pause as I notice there should have been a third guy with them. "Where's Carlos?"

Kendall laughs lightly at this while Logan rolls his eyes before explaining the joke I'm not aware of. "He's currently calming down your future husband, who is imagining the worst possible scenarios right now."

"Like you would really leave him standing at the altar and not show up," Kendall adds around laughing although their comments make me more nervous.

"I have to go see him," I say as I stand up immediately, not wanting James to be worried about me.

"No!" my three friends immediately shout at me, holding out hands as if they can stop me from walking over to James.

I sit back down and slouch in the chair, upset about not being able to go see James. "Oh yeah, there's that stupid tradition where the groom can't see the bride in her dress before the ceremony." I look over at Rachel and she just shrugs at me. "Who even came up with that?"

Rachel places a hand on my shoulder and squeezes it, trying to comfort me a little. And I have to admit, having her nearby has definitely helped me avoid a lot of panic about this wedding. "I'll go check on him for you."

I cover her hand with mine and smile up at her, grateful for everything that she has done for me. "Thank you," I say before letting go of her hand. She walks out of the room and I turn back to the two guys left with me. "Why aren't you two with James?"

Logan chuckles at this while shaking his head. "You've seen James in a panic before," he says and I nod my head in agreement. James definitely doesn't do well with stress. "Now imagine that times ten and that's what he is like right now."

My eyes widen at that and I'm about ready to try to see him again but know Rachel can take care of him for me. Maybe she can even knock some sense into him. I look up at them confused after a thought crosses my mind. "Wait, he's panicking that much and you two just left him?"

The two look at each other before just shrugging, clearly not too bothered about leaving James. I roll my eyes at them, not really that surprised with how the guys act with each other.

There's another knock on the door and this time it opens to Kelly standing there. She's looking at her clipboard like always as she starts talking to us. "Kendall, Logan, there you are. You two need to go get ready to walk out. And Lauren you need to-" Kelly cuts off with a gasp as she finally looks up and takes in my appearance. I can see her eyes start to water as she quickly walks in and grabs one of my hands tightly. "Lauren, you look so beautiful and I didn't think I would be seeing you get married this soon. But I am so happy for you." She stands up and composes herself before going back to her normal self. "Now as I was saying, we need you to also get ready to go. Where is your dad? We need to get him ready to walk you down the aisle."

I start frowning immediately at her comment about my dad and try to fight back tears. I'm not sure how to respond to her and I'm thankful when someone clears their throat and I look up to see my mom and uncle standing there. My mom walks in confidently and goes up to Kelly. "Slight change of plans since the studio is a bunch of dicks and won't let Dave make it to the ceremony," she pauses and gives me a slight look as I raise an eyebrow at her being vulgar compared to normal. Once she's sure I won't say anything, she turns back to Kelly who looks confused that things won't be going according to her schedule. "Gus here is going to be walking her down the aisle."

This has me completely shocked and I'm sure it's all over my face as my mom gives me a confident smile, knowing she managed to solve the problem of my dad not being here to walk me down the aisle. "Really?"

As I wait for my uncle to respond, I can hear Logan whisper to Kendall, "Did she just call him Gus?"

"Quiet dogs!" Gustavo yells immediately and I can tell he might want to hit them. "And don't you dare ever call me Gus or you will no longer have a job!"

This makes the two scream and run out of the room before my uncle can kill them. I shake my head at how he treats the guys while my mom hits him on the arm. "Why do you have to be so rude to the people you work with?"

Gustavo looks offended that my mom is calling him out for that. "I'm sorry!" he says quickly and cringes away like he's afraid of my mom and I try to cover up my laugh by coughing when I see him glare over at me. "Now you need to stop laughing or I won't walk you down the aisle."

I immediately stop laughing and smile at him gratefully. "Of course I want you to walk with me."

"Good," Kelly says and starts walking towards the door, looking around for someone. "Now I need to find Rachel since she needs to come with me and Scarlet, you need to head to your seat." She waits until my mother has acknowledged her before smiling over at me. "And Lauren, I hope you're ready to become Mrs. Diamond because it's just about time for the ceremony to start."

As she walks out the door, I can feel my panic and nervousness start to set in over that harmless questions. I'm not ready for this to happen in just a few minutes. Why did we think it was a good idea to get married this young?

"I better get going," my mom says as she starts walking towards the door, knowing she needs to be seated before the ceremony can start. Except now, I'm scared to have the ceremony start.

"Mommy, please don't leave yet," I beg her, needing to be comforted by her. She stops before reaching the doorway and I can hear her sigh before she motions my uncle to leave. Once the door closes behind him and it's just us two, she turns around and heads over to me, immediately pulling me into a tight hug. I hold on to her tightly as she tries to comfort me. "Mom, I'm scared," I whisper against her shoulder.

"Honey, you have no reason to be," she says as she rubs my shoulders comfortingly like she would when I was younger and got scared. "You both love each other. Nothing else matters." She pulls back slightly so that she can look at me and puts a hand under my chin, making me look up at her. "I promise you, everything will be just fine. This is going to be the greatest day of your life."

I nod my head, starting to feel the panic fade away a little bit. The door opens again and I sigh when I see my uncle there, knowing I have to let my mom go. He smiles apologetically at me, "Sorry to interrupt, but Scarlet, you need to go to your seat now. They need to have the boys stand at the altar."

I raise an eyebrow at him not referring to them as dogs before looking at my mom. She gives me an encouraging smile. "You'll be great, Lauren. I'm so proud of you and I know you're going to love married life." She hugs me one last time and I don't want to let her go. But soon enough, she has to leave, pausing in the doorway to smile at me.

Once she's out of my sight, I turn to my uncle. He's being relatively quiet about this and it's quite unusual for him. Maybe he's finally realizing that his only niece is about to get married and he is walking me down the aisle. I sigh as I realize we need to get going soon. "Well are you ready?"

He scoffs at this as he walks over and holds out an arm for me. I loop my through his like we used to do all the time when I was younger and he starts leading us towards the door. "Of course I'm ready. But the question is, are you ready to Rocque one last time?"

I stare at him with an eyebrow raised for a couple seconds as we walk down the hallway before we both start laughing over his terrible pun of my last name. "That has to be the worst joke you have ever made."

"I know, but at least I got you laughing," he says as he pauses to look at me, being unusually serious. "Are you sure you're ready?"

I take a deep breath as I think about his question. There's no doubt in my head that James is the one I want to marry and spend the rest of my life with. And that means facing my nerves and walking down the aisle. "Yes, I definitely am."

Gustavo raises an eyebrow at this, back to joking with me. "Are you sure you can handle spending the rest of your life with that monkey dog?"

I scoff at this and shake my head at him. "You do realize that you're about to be related to him, right?"

His face drops in realization and I laugh lightly at this as I get him to continue walking over towards where Rachel, Lucy and Camille are waiting for us. He takes a few seconds to compose himself before responding. "Whatever. I just hope you know that if he ever does anything wrong to you, he's getting kicked out of the band."

As we walk over to the ornate doors leading out to the garden, I can't help but smile at him acting that way. "I know you won't kick him out of the band. Just admit it, you like him," I say before we're stopped by Kelly near the girls, just before we can turn through the doors leading outside.

"Sorry you can't go in there yet. James and the guys are there," Kelly explains as I nod my head, taking deep breaths as it starts sinking in that I'm really about to get married. Part of me is just ready for the ceremony to be over so James and I can both finally relax. "But they should be heading outside shortly."

Rachel peers around the corner of the doorway. "They're walking out now," she leans back and smiles at me. In her hands are two bouquets and she hands me the larger one made of red and white roses. "Here's your bouquet. And stop worrying, you are going to be fine."

Lucy and Camille both give me smiles of encouragement before Kelly pushes them out the door. Rachel follows shortly after them, giving me one last smile before I watch my best friend walk away, knowing I have to follow her. Somehow we have reached the point she always dreamed about, getting to be my maid of honor.

I look up at my uncle as I know it is just about time for us to walk out and grip his arm a little tighter. He smiles at me as the music flourishes and gives us the queue to make my entrance. "Let's do this."

I take a deep breath as Gustavo starts leading us outside, part of me knowing deep down that it should have been my dad there with me. But I ignore this part as I watch the ground, trying not to trip as we walk down the steps just outside the door. Maybe it was a good idea to not get a ballgown dress because I don't know how I would walk down stairs with that much fabric. As we reach the bottom of the stairs, I finally look up and my eyes immediately focus on the end of the aisle. And that's when I see James standing there.

James looks like he is straight out of a fantasy novel. The sun shines down on him from behind where he's standing, turn his hair into a coppery color. His hair is perfectly styled to the side, a welcome change from the way he normally wears it down and it looks so attractive. His tux fits him just so and he looks flawless. I start grinning when I see his jaw dropped open before he covers his mouth with his hand and starts laughing in excitement.

I grin as my uncle walks me down the aisle and I can feel all of my worries from earlier slipping away. Now that I can see James, I know that marrying him is the best decision I could have made. I briefly notice everyone in the crowd and my best friends at the end as I walk down the aisle. But most of my attention is on the handsome man that I get to call my husband in less than an hour.

After what seems like forever, we reach the altar and I smile up at James as Gustavo hands me off to him. James is smiling back at me, looking happier than I've ever seen him before. Happier than when he found out their second album went platinum. Happier than when he rescued me. Happier than when I forgave him after our break up.

Before the priest starts talking, I glance over at my uncle as he sits next to my mom and see him discretely wipe away a tear as my mom puts an arm around him. The priest welcomes everyone and begins speaking. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today for the union of this young couple."

My heart starts racing after those opening words that I always pretended to say with Rachel when younger, never expecting to hear them so soon. I barely acknowledge what he says next as I look up at James, gripping his hands tightly, still not able to stop smiling. Looking at him, I can tell from the look in his eyes and the way he holds my hands that he loves me. "I love you," I whisper to him, trying not to interrupt the ceremony.

"I love you," he whispers back to me and I can feel my cheeks heating up and butterflies in my stomach as I think about how much I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him. And I hope that feeling never goes away.

The ceremony passes by quickly as I'm too distracted by how handsome James is and spending most of the time barely listening to the priest as I grin up at my soon to be husband. Very quickly we reach the point where we get to say I do and I squeeze James hands as the priest speaks to him first. "Do you, James Michael, take Lauren Ann, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do," James says immediately and confidently as he smiles down at me. I can see how much he loves me from looking in his eyes and I can feel my eyes starting to water as I listen to the priest begin to talk to me.

"Do you, Lauren Ann, take James Michael, to be your lawfully wedded husband," _yes, yes, yes_ , I want to scream as the priest speaks, eager to make things official with James. "To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer," as he lists these things, I know I'll always stay by James' side. "In sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do," I look up at James and can see him beaming with happiness at these words. I can hear Rachel sniffle next to me and know she must be crying. I can't really blame her since I've felt my eyes water up several times during the ceremony. But now that I've said 'I do', I brush away a tear of happiness.

The priest motions towards Rachel and she hands him two rings. He hands one to James and motions towards me. James gladly takes my hand, gently squeezing it before slowly putting the ring on my left hand. He looks in my eyes as he does this and I can see that he is feeling the same way as me. "With this ring, I thee wed."

As the priest hands me the ring to give to James, I try to communicate silently with him just how much I love him. And from the way he grins down at me, I know he can tell. I take his hand and hold on to it tightly as I slip on the simple gold band. "With this ring, I thee wed."

We turn back to the priest, still holding on to each other's hands. I can see the priest smiling a little and I figure this is probably his favorite part of the ceremony. "By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

"It's about damn time," James whispers as I put my arms around his neck. I laugh lightly at this as I hear the priest make a noise of annoyance at James swearing. But I don't care as I stand on my tiptoes to reach him. He leans down to reach me as he wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me close as we finally kiss. I can feel him smile in the kiss as our family and friends all start cheering at us kissing. All too soon, he pulls away but leans his forehead against mine.

I smile at him, slightly aware that we are still in front of so many people. "I love you," I whisper to him before kissing him very quickly. I step away from him, smirking a little when I see him frown very slightly at my teasing.

James keeps an arm around my waist as we turn to face the crowd for the first time as a married couple. He tightens his grip around me and I know he's thinking something similar as the priest introduces us as a married couple. "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Diamond."

I look out at the crowd, grinning at all the people there to celebrate our wedding. My mom is crying next to Gustavo who looks like he's also trying not to cry. I glance over at my bridesmaids and notice them all teary eyed, especially Rachel who hands me back my bouquet. I had no idea a wedding would have this many tears. Next I look over at the guys and see them all cheering excitedly for the two of us. James takes my hand and starts leading me back down the aisle. He squeezes my hand and I look up at him as we continue walking. When I realize that he's now officially my husband, I start grinning up at him and he smiles right back at me.

Before we enter the building, James pauses on the steps to kiss me again. The kiss is full of so many emotions and absolutely perfect. If I could freeze time, I would pause this moment forever.

James holds the door open for me and we see Kelly waiting for us inside. She is smiling at us and hugs me right away. "That was such a beautiful ceremony and let me be the first one to say congratulations."

"Thanks Kelly," James says happily as Rachel and Carlos walk in with the rest of the wedding party shortly behind them.

Carlos grabs both of us in a tight hug and I laugh at his excitement. "I can't believe my two best friends are married!"

"Well try to believe it outside because we need to go take pictures," Rachel sarcastically replies to him before turning to me and grabbing my hand. "And as for you, you were as beautiful of a bride as I always pictured you."

As Kelly starts leading us outside before the guests start coming inside, Kendall pats James on the back and Logan quickly kisses me on the cheek, showing their congratulations in unspoken ways. Kelly takes us down a new hallway and once we're outside, we are in a new section of garden and a couple photographers are waiting for us.

The main wedding photographer drags James and I around for fifteen minutes, taking pictures of just us while other photographers take pictures of the others. I don't mind doing this since it gives us some time somewhat alone and I get to keep kissing him.

At one point, there's loud laughter and I look over to see Rachel and Carlos joking around as the poor photographer tries to get a picture of them looking nice. I watch the way Rachel can't stop smiling around him and notice her eyes bright in excitement in a way that I haven't seen in a while. I'm smirking as I turn back to James who is looking at me curiously. "What did you notice that I haven't?"

"Oh nothing," I reply as I put an arm around his waist and hold him close to me. "How much do you want to bet that Rachel and Carlos are going to end up marrying each other someday?"

James glances over at them as we get directed to rejoin the group for some pictures of all of us. He chuckles as he puts an arm around me. "I'm not going to make that bet. Now that you've pointed it out, it's so obvious that they're into each other."

I pause before we meet up with the others, wanting to finish this discussion. "I just wish they would realize their feelings towards each other and start dating already."

James puts a hand under my chin and kisses me on the cheek lightly before I look over at him. It's then that I realize I've started frowning over our best friends. "Well don't worry about it right now. They'll figure it out eventually. Just look at how long it took Camille and Logan to realize they are in love." I must still be frowning a little because he now kisses me on the lips, lingering a little until he can feel me starting to smile. "Enough worrying. Besides, it's been so chaotic that I have not had the chance to tell you that you look absolutely beautiful and I love that dress."

I smile at his comment as we reach the others. I wait until we've started being put into places for photos before replying. "Well you look absolutely handsome in that tuxedo."

I get shushed by our friends so that we can finish taking our photos. My face starts to hurt by time we're done, but we did get to take some silly pictures and I can't wait to see how they turned out. After what feels like forever, we have all of the photos taken and we get a moment to relax before continuing with the festivities.

James leads me inside to a couch so we can sit and be alone for a bit. I plop down next to him and cuddle up next to him. James kisses the top of my head and I sigh in contentment. "You need to relax, Mrs. Diamond."

I smile at this as I lean my head against his chest, listening to his heart beat. "I love the sound of that."

"So do I," he answers quietly. We sit there in silence for a few minutes, both of us feeling comfortable with each other and wanting some time to relax before going to the reception and being surrounded by people for the rest of the night.

All too soon, our peace is disturbed by Kelly and she smiles apologetically as she approaches us. "Sorry you can't relax longer but you can do plenty of that on your honeymoon. Everyone is ready to start the reception."

I sigh a little at having to move because I've been enjoying relaxing here with James. But I do want to see all of our family and friends, especially the ones who have flown out here to join us. So I begrudgingly stand up and hold out a hand for James. We'll have plenty of time to relax during the next week on our honeymoon. I smile at this thought as James takes my hand and I help him up. Right away, he puts an arm around my waist and holds me close to him, showing that I'm only his. As if he really needed this action; if people couldn't tell after getting married to him, then they are clueless.

As we start walking towards the banquet room behind Kelly, we meet up with the rest of the people in our wedding party. Kendall and Lucy are in one of their usual arguments where they like to bicker but will end up kissing in a few minutes. You can just tell by the smirks on their faces. Logan and Camille are snuggled up next to each other, both looking like they are so in love. And then there's Rachel and Carlos. I probably could hear their laughter a mile away and they are both joking around with each other. Even if they don't end up dating each other, which I would be very surprised if they didn't, they're such good friends that they'll always have fun together. Seeing all of our friends here and happy together fills my heart with joy and I turn to James smiling. He looks down at me, playfully raising an eyebrow as he smirks at me, silently asking what I'm so happy about. "All of our friends are here and happy together. This moment is so perfect and I wish it would stay that way."

"I'm sure we'll all stay close like this," James whispers to me as we all stop just outside the banquet room. We can hear the DJ announce that the wedding party has arrived and we wait as he first announces Logan and Camille and they walk in. As they do, James continues talking to me quietly. "And even if some of them break up, I know we're all close enough that we'll do everything to make sure we all stay friends."

I frown a little at this as Kendall and Lucy make their entrance. I don't doubt that we'll all remain friends but I don't want to see any of my friends go through heart ache. I shake of this thought as Carlos and Rachel are announced as the best man and maid of honor. I smile up at James and take his hand tightly. "Well no point being sad about what if's when we have our wedding reception to enjoy."

"You're very right," James responds before quickly kissing me on the cheek.

We both turn towards the door in front of us as the DJ makes one more announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present Mr. and Mrs. James Diamond." We make our entrance to applause and cheers from all of our family and friends. James starts dancing goofily to the music playing as we walk in and I laugh at him being ridiculous but I really love this behavior. He twirls me around and I keep laughing, just very happy right now to be married to this silly and amazing man. James finally stops dancing and we continue walking over to the long table set up for us and our friends that are already sitting there. I wave at a few of our friends as we make it to the table. James pulls out the chair for me and I sit down next to Rachel. As he sits down next to me, I look out at everyone here and find my mom who is smiling proudly at me. I smile back at her before turning my attention back to James and the food the waiters are bringing to all of us.

A waiter sets food down in front of us before others give plates to our friends next to us. I move my chair a little closer to James so I can lean against him if I want to. I start eating my food as James starts talking to me while pushing food around his plate. "You know, now that we're married, we're going to get this fantastic house in a real nice gated neighborhood. And it'll have a pool, a big yard with a nice gazebo, and maybe some extra rooms in case we have kids in a few years."

I raise an eyebrow at this. "James," I cut off his rambling, knowing he's avoiding saying something because he always starts rambling when he's nervous. "You make it sound like you already have a house picked out."

James actually blushes at this and looks down at his food, still pushing it around with his fork. He rubs the back of his neck before looking up at me guiltily. "I might have, kind of, sort of bought us a house already."

I gasp and my jaw drops open in shock at this. I never would have thought he would go and buy a house on his own. "You did not." I say and he shrugs his shoulders as he smiles sheepishly at me. I know from that look that he most definitely bought us a house. "James, why didn't you wait for me to help?"

"You wouldn't let me help pay for the wedding at all and I felt guilty about it," he says and my eyebrows furrow in a little bit of guilt. He hadn't mentioned that at all to me. "So I wanted to do this for you. It's kind of like a wedding gift from me. You should get used to getting lots of gifts because I'm going to shower you in love all the time." James pauses and puts a hand under my chin and turns so I'm looking right at him. He looks over my face like he's trying to figure out my emotions and I can see him starting to get worried. "You're not mad, are you?"

I put a hand gently on his cheek before leaning over and kissing him, keeping it light but not really rushing it. I let the kiss answer his question and when I pull away, I can see him starting to smile at me. I keep the hand on his cheek and he covers it with his own. "How could I ever be mad when I'm now married to the sweetest guy ever?"

James kisses me again and when I hear someone say 'aww' from my left, I pull away and we glance over at Rachel to see her smiling dreamily at us. "You two are seriously so cute and I want to have a relationship likes yours someday." James starts to scoff at this and I know he's thinking about how she should date Carlos and I lightly elbow him to get him to stop. Rachel collects herself and goes back into planning mode, done with getting emotional over romance. "Now, you two need to finish eating so you can go talking to everyone and thank them for coming today."

"Yes ma'am," James replies and picks up his fork and puts a huge bite in his mouth to prove he's listening to her. I laugh at his actions and Carlos even chuckles a little before I resume eating food, not wanting Rachel to get cranky if we get behind on her master schedule she has for us. After a few minutes of eating quickly and listening to the conversations around us, James sets down his fork and turns to me. "Well, I'm all done eating but if you're not, I'll wait for you."

I look at my plate that's a little more than half eaten and shrug at him. "I'm not super hungry right now because there's so much excitement going on. So we can go talk to people now." James stands up and moves back my chair before helping me stand up. He takes my hand and leads us over to the table where our families are sitting. I hold back a laugh as I listen to Brooke trying to convince my mom to model for one of her new cosmetics lines as we approach the table.

My mom hugs me as James kisses Brooke on the cheek. I smile at my mom as I hug my uncle too. "So what crazy business plans have you two gotten in to with Brooke over dinner?"

My mom and Brooke both laugh at this and I'm happy to see them getting along. But I knew they would. If Brooke could like my dad who can be a bit cold to new people, then she would definitely like my mom who is the opposite. "Oh I was just agreeing to model her new lipstick line," she answers and I see Brooke nod approvingly since my mom had clearly not given her an answer yet.

Gustavo mean while seems to be frowning over something and I nudge him, not wanting him to have a miserable time and start ruining my mood. "What are you so grumpy about now?"

He crosses his arms and pouts over at Brooke. "Nothing, she just talked me in to signing James for a solo album when BTR eventually ends."

James' face lights up in excitement at this. "Seriously?" Brooke nods her head and smiles a little at her son's reaction before James runs to Gustavo and hugs him tightly. "Thanks, uncle!"

I can see Gustavo about to have a stroke at James calling him uncle and I pull him away just before the outburst comes. "Don't ever call me uncle!"

"Should I call you Gus instead?" James daringly asks and I look over at him in disbelief that he would taunt Gustavo like that.

My mom quickly pulls James away from Gustavo before he can hit James for being so bold and gently pushes the two of us away. "Why don't you two go talk to some of your other guests?"

I immediately take her suggestion and drag James away from their table as Gustavo's face starts turning bright red. Before we walk to the next table, I pull him aside and whisper harshly to him. "Why would you even say that to him?"

James shrugs and looks at me like he isn't bothered at all that he just angered Gustavo. "Why not? He won't do anything to me anymore now that I'm married to you because he knows you would probably kill him."

I stop and think about this for a second before shaking my head at him. I can feel a smile starting to form even though I don't want him thinking this is funny. "You're crazy." I take his arm and start walking again. "Come on, let's go talk to everyone. If we split up, we can get this done sooner." James nods in agreement before heading towards one side of the room and I go to another.

I put a smile on my face as I walk to the first table, knowing that this will be a lot of smiling and repeating the same thing. I stay a little at the table with our friends from the Palmwoods, happy to get a chance to talk to them since I haven't seen them a lot lately with how chaotic the days leading up to the wedding have been. There's also a table with my friends from filming The Hunger Games and that is a fun table to visit too. But after those two, it's a lot of guests that we had to invite to make sure we didn't upset anyone. Distant relatives, people my parents are good friends with, some celebrities that we've met maybe once but don't want to offend by not inviting.

I eventually take a break and grab a glass of water before trying to hide near the back of the room and away from everyone's attention. All this socializing is stressing me out. I lean against the wall as I watch my friends around the room. James is effortlessly talking to another table of people despite not knowing them. But he's always been good at talking to people. Rachel is laughing with some of her model friends that I've met a couple times before. Camille and Lucy are with the Jennifers and other people from the Palmwoods, chatting happily. Kendall and Carlos are eyeing out the cake, no doubt wondering when they can have some. And as for Logan, I can't seem to find him.

"Needed to take a break?" I jump and jokingly cover my heart as Logan walks up to me, chuckling as he leans against the wall next to me. "I don't blame you."

"Yeah, there's just a lot of people here," I respond to him, enjoying the little moment of peace with one of my friends. "The introvert in me wants to just run away with James and hide away in a room and relax."

"Surrreee, 'relax'," he says with air quotes and I nudge him in the arm, causing him to start laughing. I smile a little at his comment as I shake my head at him. "I'm only joking. I know you want to relax right now. The sex will happen on your honeymoon."

"Logan!" I say shocked at him being so bold and look around to make sure no one overheard us but everyone is involved in their own conversations. He bursts out laughing at my reaction and I put a hand on my hip and shake my head even more. "Why are boys so blunt about these things?"

Logan shrugs at this as he continues laughing. I'm a little relieved when I see Rachel approaching us even though I know it's probably because I need to go do something. "Lauren, you can't hide away from all of your guests. And it is time for you and James to have your first dance together."

I nod at her and start wandering over to where James is now talking to my Hunger Games costars, leaving Rachel with Logan. I wasn't quite looking forward to this part of the reception because James and I couldn't quite figure out what song we wanted to dance to. It almost feels like we settled on the song From This Moment On because it was an obvious choice and there wasn't something that stood out to us. James had wanted to dance to one of my songs and I had wanted one of his songs. We couldn't decide on one over the other so we both ditched that idea completely. Oh well, it's too late to change it now. I reach James and he holds out a hand which I take immediately. "Hi there," I say as he pulls me close to him. "It's time for our first dance together."

"I can't wait," James whispers to me as he starts leading us towards the dance floor.

The DJ starts speaking when he sees us approaching. "Alright if we could get everyone to go to the dance floor, it is time for the newlyweds to have their very first dance together as a married couple. James and Lauren, please come out to the dance floor." We listen to him as everyone gathers around us and part of me is glad I don't get nervous in front of people anymore. James puts his arms around my waist and starts smirking when the song doesn't immediately start playing. I look up at him confused and wanting an answer before the DJ continues speaking. "Now we have a little bit of a surprise for the bride."

I gasp when I see the three guys heading in front of the windows looking outside from the dance floor, all of them carrying microphones. They stop moving and smile at us. Kendall is the first one to speak up. "We wanted to do something special for James and Lauren since they're both our best friends."

Carlos continues speaking as I wrap my arms around James' neck and lean up against him. I can't stop smiling at our friends since I never expected this to happen. "So when we heard they hadn't really picked the perfect song for their first dance, we knew that was where we could help them out."

"We wish the best for James and Lauren and a happy, long marriage," Logan finishes and the others nod their heads in agreement. Logan gets a crooked grin as he looks at us. "So this is our take on All Of Me."

As the piano starts for the song, I can't help but smile as I lean against James. We start softly swaying to the music as Kendall starts singing the song. I had never even thought about using this song for our first dance but now that we are, I absolutely love it. And having three of my best friends singing it to us just makes it even better. James holds on to me tightly and I close my eyes as I listen to our friends sing. The lyrics are perfect and I couldn't ask for a better song. Both of us really are giving all of ourselves to this relationship and that's one of the reason I love him so much.

We stay wrapped in each other's embrace as we gently move on the dance floor. Towards the end of the song, James starts singing quietly to me. "All of me loves all of you. Love your curves and all your edges. All your perfect imperfections." I can feel myself starting to cry at not only his voice, but also the words that he's singing to me. It's almost as if it is the second wedding vow he's making today. "Give your all to me, I'll give my all to you. You're my end and my beginning. Even when I lose I'm winning."

I join in on quietly singing along the next lines with him and he kisses the top of my head. "'Cause I give you all of me and you give me all of you." We both stop singing along and let the guys finish the song as I pick up my head from his chest so I can look up at him. He immediately leans down and presses his lips gently to mine. I hold him there for a few seconds, not wanting this moment to end because it is so perfect. But the song ends too soon and he pulls away from me as the crowd of people around us starts clapping. "I love you," I whisper to him.

"I love you too," he replies before moving away from me so that he can clap. I join him, smiling at our friends. That was the best wedding gift they could have given us and I'll always remember this moment.

I sigh as I realize what will happen next. "I don't want to dance with my uncle," I quietly say to James and look over at where he's standing in the crowd. Him and my mother seem unusually happy and I'm not sure what that's about.

James pats my shoulder reassuringly and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek. "You'll be fine," he says before starting to walk over towards the guys.

Gustavo steps forward and holds his hands out as he addresses the crowd. "Now I don't quite have a live performance to surprise Lauren with but I do have something else that I think she'll enjoy a lot."

I look at him expectantly, waiting for him to say what it is. He starts grinning at me and gestures behind him as he steps to the side. I look over at my mom as the crowd starts to move and a figure step towards me that I thought I wouldn't see today. "Dad!" I yell as he moves towards me and I start running towards him. I throw my arms around him and he returns it, holding on to me tightly.

"Come on, sweetheart, we have our dance to complete," he says lightheartedly as he lets go of me enough to lead me back towards the center of the room. I'm lost for words, still not believing that he's really here.

The song Butterfly Kisses starts to play, a song he always insisted that we dance to at my wedding. I hold on to him and rest my head on his shoulder like I used to do when he would pick me up and hold me when I was younger. I'm still completely shocked that he is here. "How are you here? Mom said you couldn't make it-"

"Make it to the ceremony," he cuts in, laughing at the small deception. "I knew I wouldn't make the ceremony because my flight was landing around the time it was starting. But I knew I could make it to the reception so I had her make it seem like I wasn't making it at all. It makes the surprise of me being here that much better."

"Well I'm so happy you're here," I whisper to him and hold him a little closer, a little afraid that he'll disappear again. "But I wish you could have walked me down the aisle and seen the ceremony."

"I know," he responds and runs a hand lightly over my hair. "I wish I was there too. But I'm sure my brother did a great job and you look beautiful."

"Thank you," I whisper to him before listening to the song as we sway gently. I had never really understood the song before now but I imagine this is exactly how he feels today. "You know you're not losing your little girl, right?"

He's quiet for a few seconds as the song nears its end before he responds to me. "I'm sure I'm not. But doesn't mean I can't be a little sad to see you grow up."

"It had to happen at some point," I say as the song finishes. He starts to lead me over to my mom. "But you're not losing me, even if my last name is no longer Rocque."

"Diamond isn't too bad," he says with a laugh as we reach my mom. He lets go of me so that he can hold her tight and I can see that my mom was crying. When they let go, my dad pulls me between the two of them and they both put arms around me. As I watch James walk out with his mom to start their dance, I can feel myself starting to cry at having both of my parents with me. I don't even remember the last time we were all together and got to spend some time together without being at some event and having to run off and do something.

We watch James and Brooke dance for a minute, all of us content to have the whole family together. But I turn to my mom and look at her accusingly. "You're mean for telling me Dad couldn't make it to the ceremony and not telling me about him making it to the reception."

She starts laughing at this and leans her head on my shoulder. "Hey don't blame me, it was Dave's idea." I must look like I'm still not okay with this because she continues. "Lauren, just be happy he's here now."

I nod my head in agreement with her as the song wraps up and James finishes dancing with his mom. He finds me in the crowd and holds out a hand for me while smiling. I start walking towards him but turn around after a few steps, feeling bad about leaving my parents. My dad nods his head towards James. "Go have fun at your wedding. We can catch up with each other another time because you only have one wedding." I smile at my parents before continuing towards James and take his hand.

The DJ starts to play dance music and some of our friends in the crowd start running out to the dance floor. "Shall we get this party started?" James asks and I nod my head excitedly. Rachel and the other guys all join us and we start dancing, laughing at each other as we have fun. This is another one of those moments where I wish I could freeze time. I'm having such an enjoyable time with everyone and I don't want it to end.

But of course, we have to end soon and the DJ pauses the music to speak. "I know you want to keep dancing but we need the newlyweds to cut the cake so we can get going on dessert. But I promise I'll bring the music back soon!"

I start frowning a little at this but cheer up a little when James takes my hand and starts leading me over to the cake. He smiles over his shoulder at me and my heart starts beating faster at this small gesture. When we reach the table, Rachel runs up to us, clearly back in planning mode. "Alright go ahead and cut pieces of cake for each other and then everyone else will be able to start having dessert."

We listen to her and cut out a piece of cake together. James puts it on a plate for us before taking a forkful and feeding it to me gently. He's so careful about it that I almost feel bad for what I'm about to do. I grab the fork from him and pretend to be feeding him cake as carefully as he did for me and right before I can put the fork in his mouth, I shove the cake all over his face. I start laughing hysterically at this and can tell he's trying to hold back laughter while pretending to be angry about it. "I'll get you back for that," he says as he wipes the cake off of his face.

I grab the plate of cake and start walking towards our table, knowing he will follow me. I glance over my shoulder at him, raising an eyebrow at him and deciding to be a little flirty now. "Oh really? How are you going to do that?"

James contemplates this as we sit down at the table. He waits for us to be situated before leaning in and kissing me on the cheek. "I'll find some way for you to pay me back during our honeymoon." He pauses as he takes a bite of his cake and contemplates it for a few seconds. He gets a mischievous look on his face before continuing. "In fact, I've just decided that you're going to make it up to me by doing whatever I want for one whole day on our honeymoon."

I catch the suggestive tone and wink at him before replying. "Alright then. One whole day where I'll do whatever you want."

James gets a look in his eyes that shows he can't wait for this to happen. He takes a bite of cake before leaning back in his chair and smirking at me. "This is definitely going to be a great marriage."

"Oh I agree," I say around a mouthful of cake. I can't stop eating this stuff, it tastes so good. "I'm looking forward to waking up next to you every day." James kisses me lightly on the cheek before we finish the piece of cake too soon. We then sit back and relax as everyone else eats their dessert.

Rachel eventually comes over to us and looks at me excitedly. "So Lauren, are you ready for me to catch your bouquet?"

I roll my eyes at this as she starts laughing. Meanwhile, James just looks confused about our conversation and I quickly explain it to her. "Rachel made a promise to me when we were five that she would catch the bouquet at my wedding."

James stands up and helps me up, keeping ahold of my hand as he leads me back towards the dance floor. "Well I would hate to be the one to get in her way."

"I agree," I reply as we pause at the edge of the dance floor. The DJ gathers the single ladies in the middle as Camille hands me my bouquet. I can see Rachel standing defensively in front of everyone and it looks like she is willing to knock someone to the ground in order to catch it. As I turn around, I start getting worried for the safety of the other guests. I just hope that the bouquet will go to Rachel and as I throw it over my shoulders, I cringe as I wait to hear someone hit the ground. Instead, I hear Rachel start cheering and turn around, relieved to see her holding the flowers.

Rachel starts dancing a little and I'm laughing as I watch Kendall and Logan drag her to the side of the dance floor. Carlos moves a chair into the middle and I start blushing when I remember that James has to take the garter off my leg. This tradition might be one of the dumbest parts of weddings because why would you want the groom to take someone off of the bride's leg with his teeth in front of their families? I'm ready to start protesting this but Carlos quickly walks over and drags me to the chair. "Lauren, don't even try to get out of this."

I sigh but listen to him and sit down in the chair. I try not to find where my family is in the crowd and just hope they've decided to not watch this part. I look over at James and see him smirking at me, clearly knowing I'm bothered by this. And by the look on his face, I can tell he's going to make this as embarrassing as possible for me.

The DJ starts playing music and James begins dancing over towards me, making sure the dance moves are terrible. I start laughing along with the crowd and James starts smiling when he notices that. When he reaches where I'm sitting, he takes a moment to turn around and shake his butt in front of me and I lightly smack it, laughing way too hard at him.

James kneels down in front of me and I can feel my cheeks already heating up as he grabs on to my ankle. He lifts up the skirt enough to grab the garter with his teeth, seemingly taking his time to pull it down my leg. I nudge him with my other foot so he can stop embarrassing me and he hurries up, getting the garter off my quickly. He stands up and leans over to kiss me, lingering a little before pulling away. He smiles at me, his earlier goofiness gone and I find myself no longer bothered by him trying to embarrass me as I look into his eyes. "Sorry if I was too embarrassing."

"You were fine," I whisper to him as he grabs my hands, pulling me up lightly from the chair. I let James lead me back to the side of the crowd, still feeling a little flustered by him taking the garter off my leg. I stop next to Rachel and she hands me a glass of water. I take it immediately, grateful to have something to cool me off. I look back out on the dance floor to see James stand in front of a very large crowd of guys and I chuckle a little. Of course there would be a lot of guys who want to put the garter on Rachel and touch a supermodel's leg.

James takes his time, messing with the guys by pretending to throw the garter a few times. He finally lets go of it and a bunch of guys try to grab it before it lands in… Logan's hands? He immediately looks confused and I turn to Camille who looks furious and Lucy is already holding her back. Logan sees her and quickly starts speaking. "I didn't know what we were doing. I just thought they wanted a picture of all the guys or something."

James walks back to me, chuckling as he watches the chair get set up again and Rachel goes towards it, almost looking a little bothered by this. Logan is almost beat red as he holds the garter out in front of him as if he's scared to touch it. He keeps glancing back and forth between Rachel and Camille, not knowing what to do. Next to me, James has to cough to cover up a laugh as Rachel sits in the chair and Logan looks embarrassed about what's about to happen. James gives me a light nudge and I watch him point across from us to where Carlos is standing with his arms crossed. He looks absolutely furious about what's about to happen and when I notice Rachel glance towards him, I start laughing with James. "Oh this is going to be hilarious."

"I know," James replies as Logan starts hesitantly moving towards Rachel who looks like she just wants this to be done already. "Five bucks that Carlos does something."

"Deal," I cross my arms as Logan grabs Rachel's leg, hoping Carlos will stay quiet so I can win this bet. And I start to think I'm right before Logan suddenly gets tackled to the ground.

James bursts out laughing as Kendall runs over to pull Carlos off of Logan. I frown slightly, mostly at losing the bet than our friends being crazy. Rachel stands up, looking furious as she stares at Logan and Carlos. Once they're standing in front of her, she smacks Carlos across the cheek. "What are you doing? Do you really want to ruin the wedding for your two best friends?"

My eyebrows raise in shock as Carlos looks unfazed about just getting slapped across the face. He points over to Logan before defending himself. "I was not going to just stand back and watch as some guy – and _Logan_ of all people – puts that garter on your leg!" He puts his hands on his chest defensively as Rachel crosses her arms at him. "I don't care anymore! Rachel, I want to be the guy to do that. I want to be the guy you run to when you need a shoulder to cry on. I want to be the guy you call up just to sit around and watch movies with in our sweatpants all day." I can see the anger leaving Rachel's face as she listens to Carlos' outburst and can feel myself smiling and starting to tear up at how cute his declaration is. James puts his arm around my waist as Carlos continues. "I don't want to be just some guy who is only a friend. I care so much about you and I want to be your boyfriend."

The entire ballroom is silent after Carlos finishes his outburst, waiting to hear how Rachel will respond. I watch as Carlos starts to realize what he just impulsively said and begins to worry about Rachel's reaction. But I know my best friend well and sure enough, instead of saying anything, she throws her arms around his neck and kisses him. Everyone cheers in excitement over her accepting Carlos' declaration of his feelings. I clap in happiness over seeing my two best friends finally admit to each other how they feel. When they break the kiss, they both are smiling and Carlos throws his arms around her and picks her up, swinging her around as she laughs happily.

I lean up against James as he kisses the top of my head. "This day couldn't be more perfect."

James holds me a little tighter as the DJ starts playing music again and everyone goes out to the dance floor. I watch as Rachel and Carlos start dancing together, both acting silly with each other like they did before confessing their feelings for each other. Lucy, Camille, and the Jennifers are all near each other. Kendall and Logan are dancing crazily and I laugh a little at their behavior. I hope the four guys never change how they act together because there is never a dull moment with them. And I want to have a future full of crazy adventures with them. Then I spot my mom and dad towards the edge of the dancefloor, holding on to each other and swaying, not really caring if they are on the beat. Seeing the two of them together makes me smile since they spend so much time apart that moments when they are together are special. It's easy to see how much they still love each other and I just hope that is what my future is like with James.

James lets go of my waist just to grab on to my hand. He moves in front of me and starts walking backwards towards the dancefloor. "Come on, Mrs. Diamond. You have to dance at your own wedding."

James grins at me as we head out to join all of our family and friends. Everything about this day has been perfect and I wish I could have it play on repeat forever. And I know this day is only the start of what is going to be an amazing marriage with James. Before he turns around to watch where he's going, James flashes me one more smile and I can feel my heart start racing. He still has that effect on me after all this time. It seems only right that on my wedding day to James, just like the first day I met him and how I know the rest of our lives will be like, when he smiles at me I see sparks fly.

 _The end_

* * *

 **Well, thank you for reading this story. I never thought I would go back to this story and rewrite it but I guess I love Lauren and James too much to not write about them. I'm still very proud of this story, even more now that I've added to it and made it better. I really hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. As always, please review and let me know what you think, especially now that it's finished.**

 **Now some of you might be aware that I had started to write a sequel for this story a long time ago that I just never finished. I kind of lost where I wanted to go with it and I wasn't too happy with it. However, I would like to return to that sequel. I have no idea when that will occur since I have a new story I want to write first, but it will happen at some point. So please stay tuned for more of Lauren and James!**


End file.
